Manoj defeated the London Olympics bronze medallist
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Indian pugilist Manoj Kumar faced Lithuania’s Evaldas Petrauskas in the men’s 64kg light welter division at the Rio Olympics 2016 and created a huge upset by edging the Lithuanian 29-28, 29-28 and 28-29.
The first round started with the Lithuanian attacking the Indian from the word go. Manoj, on the other hand, tried to maintain distance with his jab and swayed his way out of the Lithuanian’s punches. However, as the Indian landed more punches than his counterpart, he was awarded the first round by the judges.
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The second round saw the London Games bronze medallist trying to gain an upper hand. However, after taking a punch, Manoj came back and dominated the round, using his reach perfectly and troubling the Lithuanian more often than not. Kumar tried to keep this as a boxing match but Petrauskas was making it a brawl. However, Petrauskas’ tactics didn't work much as Manoj edged the second round as well.
The Indian required to keep his cool and stay as far away from the Lithuanian as possible. Manoj’s experience helped him tackle the opponent and stayed tough to keep going. Though Petrauskas dominated the third round and landed more blows, the Indian hung on and managed to eke out a result and qualify for the next round.
Manoj will now face Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan in the round-of-16.
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About the author
Sankalp Srivastava
Sankalp is a veteran European and international football writer at Sportskeeda. He has a total experience of 8 years, having previously worked for some top companies such as Wisden India and Fox Sports Asia. An engineer by qualification, Sankalp places a very high emphasis on accuracy by leaving no stone unturned in his research, and prides himself on showcasing the human aspect of the sporting world.
Sankalp has had the privilege of interviewing senior Indian cricketers such as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Chris Woakes in his experience so far. He has also covered various Indian and international matches, such as the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup when working for FOX.
Sankalp started following football after watching the 2002 FIFA World Cup with his family. He is a die-hard Manchester United supporter, who started following the club due to David Beckham. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and favorite player is Lionel Messi, both for setting unattainable benchmarks. He considers Barcelona’s incredible 6-1 second leg comeback win in the 2016-17 UCL against Paris Saint-Germain as one of the most iconic matches ever.
Along with European football, Sankalp also follows the Indian Super League. When not writing, Sankalp enjoys traveling and watching sports.
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