Arun Kumar goes down fighting

India's Arun Kumar Singh fought valiantly but ran out of steam and narrowly went down to Zhumabekov Zxandos of Kazhakstan in the first round of the 23rd Asian Boxing Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Competing in the flyweight class, Arun lost to his fancied opponent 38-42 after he had shown his fighting skills to take a 2-1 lead in the penultimate round of the bout.

The Commonwealth silver medallist lost the first round of his opening bout 5-10 but came back to level scores by edging past 11-10 in the second round. Arun increased his lead in the third round (13-9) but the last round of 9-13 prevented him from clinching an upset win.

In the light-welter weight section, Som Bahadur Pun was outclassed by another Kazakh, Murghozhizhenis, 15-32.

Pun, who was adjudged the most courageous boxer at the recent Commonwealth Championships in Scotland, tried his best but lost all his rounds, scoring 3-9, 5-9, 3-6, 4-8.

In the middleweight section, Vijay lost on points 24-32 to Mehdi Ghodami of Iran.

However, there is still hope for India with three more contestants -- Jai Bhagwan (light), Vijender (welter) and Mahendar Thapa (light-heavy) -- still in the fray.

Jai Bhagwan takes on Genbert Besadre of the Philippines while Vijender's opponent would be Reza Ghazzimi of Iran in the second round. Thapa faces a Tajakistan opponent.