World Boxing Cup: Tactically brilliant Hitesh becomes first Indian to reach final

The Indian pugilist adopted a cautious approach at the start against Olympian Traore but was always on the lookout for the counterattack.

The strategy allowed Hitesh to control the pace of the bout and though he received a penalty in the third and final round, the end result was never in doubt. He will now face Odel Kamara of England in the summit clash.

Among the other Indians in fray, Jadumani Singh Mandengbam took the fight to former Asian U-22 champion Asilbek Jalilov of Uzbekistan but ended on the wrong side of a 2:3 split verdict in the 50kg semifinals.

Vishal went down 0:5 against Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan in the 90kg semifinal while Sachin lost to Poland’s Pawel Brach in 60kg bout.

Earlier, Manish Rathore, Hitesh and Abhinash Jamwal showcased their title ambitions with commanding victories in the quarterfinals in their respective weight categories on Wednesday.

Jamwal tamed Germany’s Denis Bril with a unanimous decision in the 65kg category while Hitesh defeated Italy’s Gabriele Guidi Rontani by an identical scoreline in the 70kg category.

In the 55kg category, Manish Rathore was up against Australia’s Paris Olympian Yusuf Chothia and the Indian national champion proved that he was well prepared for whatever his opponent threw at him.

Both the boxers kept things tight in all three rounds with Rathore emerging victorious as three judges ruled in his favour while two gave equal points to both.