The hosts churned out impressive performances on Day 2 of the Commonwealth Boxing Championship.

By Garima Verma

India continued with their striking show and secured three more medals on the second day of the fifth Commonwealth Boxing Championship.

While Suranjoy Singh, Vijender Singh and Dinesh Kumar entered the semifinals and secured at least a bronze, the lone disappointment of the day was Dilbabh Singh's defeat.

Suranjoy kick-started India's proceedings by routing Kenya's Benson Gicharu 14-2 in the fly weight category. The tiny Indian was all offensive and took advantage of his opponent's defensive approach to build a comfy 6-1 lead in the first round. Gicharu kept his guard up in the following round, but whenever Suranjoy got the chance he collected points. Leading 9-2 in the third round, with both the pugilists out of energy, Suranjoy sealed the fate 14-2. He will take on Andrew Selby of Wales next.

"Since I was playing in a tournament after a long time, my body was feeling a little stiff today. Thankfully, I did not have tough competition and I won easily," Suranjoy said of his first Commonwealth bout. Coach Gurabax Singh Sandhu, meanwhile, praised his ward for "scoring off strong punches and hooks".

Dilbagh was the next Indian in the fray. He, however, seemed to have gifted away the match to Callum Smith of England. Dilbagh's evasive tactics cost him dear as he ended up giving away two points. Though both the boxers were way off technically in the first round, Dilbagh managed to take a 1-0 lead. But, starting the final round at 2-2, the Indian started pushing his rival too much and was warned by the referee. That put Callum at 5-3 lead and Dilbagh could not make a comeback. "The warning just around the match for the English boxer," Sandhu said.

In both Vijender and Dinesh's bouts, the referee had to stop the contest. Malaysia's MFB HJ Mohd Haron was under immense pressure facing the reigning middle weight (75kg) world No. 1 Vijender. The visiting boxer just kept his guard up in an attempt to save himself from the sturdy Indian's punches. Vijender was leading 5-0 in Round 2 when the referee stopped contest and rid Haron of further agony.

"Dinesh already knew his style (Haron) well as he had fought him earlier in the 81kg category. We already had our strategy in place. He advised me to go all attacking right from the start and that worked," Vijender said.

In another lop-sided encounter, Dinesh ran out 8-1 winner in the light-heavy weight (81kg) category against Reece Papuni of New Zealand after the referee stopped the bout due to a nose injury to Papuni. Dinesh took full advantage of his height and kept dealing a combination of left and right long-rangers.

"I was extremely disappointed after Dilbagh lost. So, I just tried my best to cheer my group again," Dinesh said.

Akhil Kumar, Amandeep, Jai Bhagwan and Manpreet Singh will continue India's campaign in their respective quarterfinals stages on Sunday.

Results, Day 2: Fly weight (52kg): Andrew Selby, Wales, beat Gamal Yafai, England, 7-6; Benson Gicharu, Kenya, lost to Suranjoy Singh, India, 2-14; Sunday Elias, Tanzania, lost to Oliver Lavigi, Mauritius, 2-6; PD Suresh, Sri Lanka, beat Michael Rantsto, Botswana, 9-2. Weleter weight (69kg): Callum Smith, England, beat Dilbagh Singh, India, 5-4; Fred Evans, Wales, beat Rayton Okwiri, Kenya, 7-5; Moabi Mothiba, Botswana, beat aston Brown, Scotland, 9-2; Nivesh Gyadin, Muaritius, beat Joseph M Waselage, Tanzania, 1-0. Middle weight (75kg): R Tharanga Jayathlake, Sri Lanka, lost to Nathan McEwen, New Zealand, 2-11; Frank Buglioni, England, beat Ced Ric Oliver, Mauritius, 8-2; MFB HJ Mohd Haron, Malaysia, lost to Vijender Singh, India, 0-5; Selemani Kidunda, Tanzania, beat Nicholas Odiambo, Kenya, 3-0. Lightheavy weight (81kg): Reece Papuni, New Zealand, lost to Dinesh Kumar, India, 1-8; Obed Mwakonga, England, lost to Leonard Machichi, Tanzania, 1-4.