Vijender Singh enters the second round of World Boxing Championships

Olympic and World Championships Bronze medalist Vijender Singh (75kg) defeated Hampus Henriksson of Sweden 3-0 in the first round of the World Boxing Championships.

Vijender, who was down with a mild fever and cold, completely thrashed his opponent in the Round of 64. The individual scoreline read 30-27 30-26 30-26 in favor of the Indian boxer. This is Vijender’s first major tournament after being accused in the controversial drug scandal earlier this year. This is the third successive win for the Indian team as Vikash Malik (60kg) and Mandeep Jangra (69kg) had already secured their positions in the round of 32.

Vijender had a tough task ahead in the next round as he will lock horns with the current European champion and world number seven Irish boxer Jason Quigley. 22 year old Quigley, who got bye in the first round is the 5th seeded boxer in this category. The bout will take place on Saturday.

Vijender, who was the former World No. 1 in this category won the bronze medal in the 2009 edition of this mega event.

Tomorrow is a big day for the Indian team as 2 Indian Boxers will be in action in the Round 2 of the Championships. In 64kg Olympic Quarterfinalist Manoj Kumar will be up against Faith Keles of Turkey whereas in the 91kg wt. category Manpreet Singh will fight Keddy Agnes of Seychelles.

As Indian Boxing Federation is suspended by International Boxing Association’s (AIBA), Indian pugilists are competing as independent boxers under the banner of AIBA which directly means that if any Indian boxer wins the Gold medal at the Championships, then neither the tri-colour will be raised nor the national anthem will be played.