Hussamuddin punches his way into Asian Elite semis

Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin progressed to the semi-finals as India's medal count continued to swell at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday.

Up against South Korea's Haengseok Lee in the quarter-final, Hussamuddin (57kg) fell behind early with his rival landing clean punches in the opening round.

With the prospects of an upset looming, Commonwealth bronze medallist Hussamuddin utilised his experience to make a comeback. He went all out in the next two rounds to dominate his way to a 5-0 win and guarantee yet another medal for India.

Hussamuddin will face the 2021 World Championships silver medallist Serik Temirzha in his semi-finals bout on November 10.

In the other quarter-final, Thailand Open gold medallist Ananta Chopade (54kg) was knocked out after suffering a 0-4 loss to Kyrgyzstan’s Seidekmatov Sanzhai.

On Saturday night, Anikushita Boro (56kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) prevailed over Tsubata Arsia of Japan and Valentina Khalzova of Kazakhstan, respectively, to progress to the semi-finals.

Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina, who was contesting in the 75kg weight category for the first time at an international tournament, was made to earn a 3-2 split decision victory against the 2016 world champion Khalzova.

The Assamese boxer, who won the bronze medal in 69kg at the Tokyo Olympics, has moved up to 75kg division as her former weight class doesn't feature in the Paris Olympics.

However, it was the end of the road for Pooja (70kg), who suffered a 0-5 defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan's Dariga Shakimova in her last eight bout.

Earlier on Saturday, debutants Minakshi (52kg), and (57kg) and world championships bronze medallist Parveen had sealed semi-final berths.

Later on Sunday, five-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Amit Kumar (67kg), Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg), Monika (48kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) will all be in action in their respective quarter-finals.

Five Indian men pugilists -- Narender (+92kg), Naveen Kumar (92kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sumit (75kg) and Sachin (71kg) will take to the ring on Monday to compete in their quarter-finals.

A total of 267 boxers from 27 top boxing nations are competing in the tournament.