Thaindian News

London, Aug 2 (IANS) India’s Jai Bhagwan was outboxed by Kazakh fighter Gani Zhailauov at the London Olympics and lost by a big margin in the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s 60 kg category here Thursday.

Bhagwan became the third boxer to fall in the London Games after the ouster of Shiva Thapa (56 kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81 kg) as he lost 8-16 at the ExCel Arena.

The Indian got off to a bright start and looked to having the upper hand over the Kazakh boxer, who had knocked him out in the quarters of the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Starting off aggressively, Jai Bhagwan landed some telling blows in the beginning and ended the first round 3-2 in his favour.

The Indian though looked lazy in the second round and came in for some stick from the Kazakh boxer, who by now was well settled into the bout. Jai Bhagwan’s reply never came as he withdrew himself into a shell and relied on the odd counter punches.

Things only got worse for Jai Bhagwan as he was given a public warning that resulted in a two-point penalty, ending the round 3-10.

Participating in his first Olympics, the 26-year-old Indian seemed to run out of gas in the third. Initially showing a bit of urgency, Jai Bhagwan lacked ideas to get back into the contest as the Kazakh showed great counter-attacking skills and clever boxing.

Zhailauov, who won a bronze medal in Baku, adopted a defensive strategy, trying to evade most of the punches coming his way and finally took the third round 4-2.