C`wealth champ Amandeep, Olympian Diwakar ousted from Natl`s

New Delhi: Commonwealth champion Amandeep Singh was sent packing by Sunil Kumar (49kg), while reigning world youth champion Vikas Krishan (60kg) stunned Olympian Diwakar Prasad to enter the finals on a day of upsets at the 57th Senior Men`s National Boxing Championships here on Thursday. Amandeep, competing for team championship contenders Railways Sports Promotion Board, lost 3-4 in a hard-fought contest against Sunil, representing Haryana in the event. Sunil, a former Commonwealth champion, will now face former world cadet champion, Uttar Pradesh`s Vipin Kumar, who entered his maiden Nationals final with a narrow 7-6 triumph over Tamil Nadu`s M Murugan. Diwakar, also a Railways man, lost 2-4 to the 18-year-old Vikas in another major upset. The 26-year-old Diwakar was level 2-2 with Vikas in the first round but lost hold over the bout in the next two rounds. Vikas, a quarterfinalist at the previous Nationals, was able to connect a couple of decisive blows when Diwakar dropped his guard. "I was confident of winning despite the fact that the scores were level in the first round. Diwakar is an experienced boxer but somehow his punches were not powerful enough," Vikas, who will take on Indian Boxing Federation individual entry Vikas Malik in the final, said after the bout. However, there were no surprises in the bantam weight 56kg division with reigning champion and the Best Boxer of previous edition Chhote Lal Yadav advancing to the finals with ease. The Services Sports Control Board pugilist, who won a gold medal at the South Asian Games this year, outpunched Meghalaya`s Torak Kharappan 13-6 in a lopsided encounter. The 26-year-old, however, did not get much time to celebrate his win as he rushed to the hospital to be with his mother, who was attacked by some goons while on her way to Delhi to get Yadav`s unwell sister checked at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Yadav will face All India Police`s S Suresh in the finals tomorrow. Suresh beat Haryana`s Kuldeep 6-4 in his semifinal bout. In the light welter weight 64kg division, V Santosh Kumar (SSCB) upstaged Railways` Manoj Kumar (RSPB) 4-1 to set up a clash with Delhi`s Jitender Mann, who defeated Rajasthan`s Vikram Singh 2-1. Manoj is a former national champion and an Asian bronze medallist. In welter weight 69kg, it will be a battle of two Dilbags in the final tomorrow. Eight-time champion Dilbag Singh of the Railways will face Dilbag Singh of Delhi. While the Railways boxer defeated Harayana`s Sandeep 9-3, the Delhi-lad got the better of All India Police`s S B Tamang 5-1. In middle weight 75kg, SSCB`s Kulwant Singh set up a clash with reigning champion Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) after defeating Rana Bahadur Thapa of Arunachal Pradesh 9-0. Kuldeep, on the other hand, out-punched Harayana`s Rahul 8-1. In the light heavy weight 81kg division, World Cup bronze medallist and Olympian Dinesh Kumar (AIP) will face off against old rival Jasveer Singh (RSPB) in the finals. While Dinesh left his Delhi opponent Vikas Singh with a bleeding nose forcing the referee to award him the bout in the second round, Jasveer also had very little trouble in sailing past SSCB`s Sujeet Kumar 11-1. PTI