Amandeep enters Asian Boxing Championships final

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Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Amandeep Singh (49kg) was the lone Indian boxer to reach the finals of the Asian Championships with a tough win over Asylbek Nazaraliev of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals on Thursday.

The Punjab pugilist, who won a gold at the Commonwealth Championships last year, won 13-12 in a nail-biting bout to set up a summit clash with Shin Jong Hun -- a World Championship bronze-medallist.

"I have had tough bouts all through and this one was no different. He was a counter-boxer and I took a defensive approach to fight it out with him. It was a hard slog but I am very happy," Amandeep told PTI.

However, there was disappointment for India elsewhere as Balwinder Beniwal (64kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Paramjeet Samota lost in the semifinals to settle for bronze medals.

While Commonwealth Youth Games gold-medallist Balwinder lost to Munkherdene Vranchimeg of Mangolia, Samota went down to Xuanxuan Wang of China after being warned twice in the bout.

In the previous edition, India had won a gold -- through Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Suranjoy Singh -- with a couple of silver and four bronze medals.