COLOMBO:

Sushil Ghimire registered an emphatic 29-8 win over Bangladeshi boxer Md Omar Ali and entered the final in the 64-kg category. Ghimire became the lone Nepali survivor in the gold medal match after other four boxers lost their bouts in the semi-finals.

Ghimire started with a bang and earned points at will troubling his opponent in the first round and took a huge 8-0 lead, in which the Bangladeshi boxer failed to produce a single attack.

Ghimire was equally brilliant in the second round and extended his lead to 14-3. At one stage, the Nepali boxer almost knocked Ali out with a right-handed punch. In the third round, Ghimire struggled a bit but took the match in control for a 21-6 lead. He then made his opponent run around the ring and finished the bout at 29-8.

Ghimire will take on Pakistan’s Faizal Kareem, who registered a first-round RSC (referee stop contest) win over Bhutan’s Lodey Nawang.

Earlier, four Nepali boxers claimed a bronze medal each. Mahesh Rijal lost to Abid Ali Baloch in the 54kg semi-final in RSC due to the vast difference in points in the third round, while Bishnu Rijal (81kg) went down to Afghanistan’s Muhammad Qadir Sultan in RSC in the third round. In an evening bout, India’s Anthresh Lalit Lakra defeated Purna Lama (57kg) in RSC in the second round while Lama was trailing 6-17.

Anil Gurung (69kg), the only Nepali boxer to advance to the last four by winning a bout, was declared ‘medically unfit’ to play the semi-final against Pakistan’s Dur Muhamad.

He had received a punch under his eye during the Sunday’s quarter-final bout and the judge did not allowed Gurung to come to the ring.