Harpreet scores knock-out

Harpreet Singh gave an awesome exhibition of raw firepower to blast into the final while Jitender Kumar had to be satisfied with a bronze medal in the boxing event at the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on Thursday.

Harpreet unleashed lethal blows to knock out Anderson Fitzgerald Emmanual of Barbados only 35 seconds into the opening round of the heavyweight semi-final at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

The Indian breathed fire right from the word go and picked three points as his opponent found it impossible to stand up to the Indian's onslaughts.

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The semifinal bout was over in a flash as the Barbados boxer was grounded, ensuring Harpreet a passage to the title round, where he will clash with Australia's Bradley Michael Pitt for the gold medal.

However, Jitender made an exit from the competition, going down to Englishman Don Gareth Broadhurst by a 21-36 point verdict in the flyweight semi-final.

His efforts fetched India its first bronze medal from the discipline in the Games. As per rules, both losing semi-finalists are presented bronze medals in the discipline.