Indian pugilists Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar advanced to the quarter finals of their respective categories in Beijing.

Akhil, trailing 2-6 at one stage drew parity in the dying seconds and won on points to reach the quarterfinal of the 54kg category at the Workers' Gymnasium.

There was more good news from the Indian pugilists as Jitender Kumar advanced to the quarters of the 51 kg category, beating D. Tulashbuoy 13-6.

Though Akhil insists he is not ready to settle for anything less than the gold, he would be assured of a medal if he wins his quarterfinal bout on Sunday.

The Russian world champion grabbed early initiative and had a slight edge in both the rounds as he raced to a 6-2 lead midway through the third round.

To make it even more difficult for the Indian, the Russian used both the orthodox and southpaw stance but it did not really paid off as Akhil went on the offensive.

Akhil eventually prevailed in the third round to reduce the gap (7-8) and then in the final round, landed a couple of punches on the Russian to drew parity at 9-9.

With both the boxers levelled at 9-9, the Indian was declared the winner on points.

"It was not easy, for he is the world champion but once I levelled the score, I knew I cannot lose," said Akhil, bathed in sweat.

"It's not possible to assure you of the gold but I can tell you that I'm here to win only gold," said the boxer, oozing confidence.

Meanwhile, Jitender out-punched Uzbek Tulashboy Doniyorov in an ill-tempered bout to set up a tough quarterfinal clash against three-time European champion Georgy Balakshin of Russia in the boxing competition's 51kg category at the Olympics here today.

The 21-year-old Haryana boxer, who is on his maiden Olympic trip, clinched the issue 13-6 to move into the last-eight stage and inch closer to a medal.

In a bout marred by frayed tempers, Jitender led all the way before rounding it off in style with a left jab. The Indian started confidently taking a 4-1 lead in the opening round and extended it to 5-1 at the of the second round.

Frustration began to show on Doniyorov in the third round and unable to connect punches, the 27-year-old Uzbek resorted to some wrestling inside the boxing ring.

The fury didn't do any good to his chances and Doniyorov was penalised two points for rough play as Jitender continued with his aggressive assault to stretch his lead to 11-4 by the end of the third round.

With Doniyorov letting his anger get the better of him, Jitender was in control of the proceedings but even he lost his cool in the beginning of the fourth round inviting a two-point penalty.

But that hardly made a difference to the final scoreline as Jitender stamped his authority with a combination of uppercuts and jabs, outmaneuvering his rival in tactics.

The Asian Championship bronze medallist, however, now has a tough task at hand as he takes on Balakshin, to whom he lost in the 2007 World Championships in Chicago by just one point.

Balakshin beat Asian champion Mirat Sarsembayev of Kazakhstan 12-4 in the other pre-quarterfinal bout earlier today.