Three Indian pugilists
fall in round 1

The Indian boxing campaign at the Commonwealth Games began on a dismal note as three pugilists, including lightweight hero Dingko Singh, were forced to bite the dust in the very first round.

While Dingko Singh and Harpal Singh lost by slender point margins, Dalvir Singh failed to live upto expectations, losing by a huge margin.

Ramanand was the only success story, as he outpunched Jules de Gannes of Trinidad in his bout on Saturday to proceed to the next round in the upto-60 kg category.

Harpal began with a flourish, unleashing a barrage of punches to unsettle his opponent, Michael Macaque of Mauritius. However, he was unable to sustain the pressure and went down 18-20 in the over-91 kg category.

Dalvir Singh was no match for his much superior opponent, Emanuel Nketu of Lesotho, and lost the upto-51 kg contest 14-23.

Dingko Singh, the lightweight hero of the Bangkok Asian Games, began on an impressive note but lost his rhythm towards the later stages, allowing his taller opponent, Ezekiel Letuka of Lesotho, to score at the fag end and win 14-12 the upto-54 kg contest.

The seven-member Indian boxing squad is taking part in seven weight categories, hoping to improve upon its tally of one silver medal at the last Games in Kuala Lumpur.

With three boxers having made their exit, it is now left to Mohd Ali Quamar, S B Pun, Jitender Kumar and Ramanand to keep the Indian medal hopes alive.