Sandeep Sharma advanced to the pre-quarter finals of the 75 kg division after defeating Joongwon Kim of Korea on a mixed day for the Indians in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia.
Sandeep, a bronze medallist at the 2010 International Invitational tournament in Kazakhstan, produced a dominating performance with some precise punching in the middle weight division bout.
The 17-year-old Services boxer led throughout the bout never giving Kim the time to settle into a rhythm. The Indian won on points 18-6 (4-2, 8-3, 6-1). He now takes European Junior Championships bronze medallist Berika Mhechadze of Georgia for a place in the quarter-finals.
But, India's welter weight boxer Manjeet Panghal's (69kg) campaign came to an end at the hands of Abbas Baraou of Germany. Phaghal was completely out of sorts against the attacking play of the German and lost with an RSC (referee stops contest) decision in first round.
Two other India boxers -- Amritpreet Singh (91kg) and Nagesh Kharare (60kg) -- also bowed out of the tournament after suffering defeat in the round of 32.
Singh, the 2012 Junior National Championship gold medallist, retired after suffering an injury in his bout against Pawel Wierzbicki of Poland.
The 18-year-old Indian was slow to get off the mark and the Polish boxer took advantage of this and raced to an 8-3 lead after the first three minutes of the bout.
The Indian came around in the second round though and seemed to be getting back in the game. He was leading 9-7 in the round when he received a blow on his head and he had to retire due to injury.
Reigning Youth National champion Kharkare put up a strong fight in the round of 32 light weight division bout but in the end came up short against English boxer Edward Cheeseman, losing 12-19 on points.
