Akhil's stumbles in quarters

Beijing, Aug 18 (UNI) Akhil Kumar's dream run finally came to an end as the Indian lost to Moldova's Veaceslav Gojan in the 54kg (Bantam) category event of the Olympic Boxing competition here today.

The way Akhil has played in the competition so far, he looked certain for a medal but his Moldovan counterpart did not give him any chance as the Indian lost the bout 1-1, 1-1, 4-0, 4-1 (10-3) to move into the semi-finals.

Akhil's attacking game did not work today as Gojan came out with a plan and executed it well enough to outmaneuver the Indian who was being considered as a strong medal hope for the country.

Gojan was looking to block Akhil's every punch and after two rounds it was 2-2 but in the third and fourth round the Moldovan went all out to fetch four points in each round.

However, with Akhil's loss not everything is lost for India who also have two more boxers - Jitender Kumar and Vijender Kumar - in the contention for a semi-final berth.

UNI HSB RAR KN1731