Jai Bhagwan advances to Rd2 of boxing World Championships

Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Jai Bhagwan thrashed Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania to enter the second round, on Saturday, continuing the impressive show by Indian boxers in the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Jai beat Petrauskas, a Youth Olympics gold-medallist, 15-8 to enter the second round where he will take on Czech Miroslav Serban. Serban beat Nuwan Thennakoon of Sri Lanka 16-10 in his opening bout.

The experienced 26-year-old Indian changed his strategy in every round of the bout, wearing down his 19-year-old opponent.

"It was a very tough bout, but Jai gave a perfect performance. In the first round, he withstood the flurry of body blows and wild hooks that Petrauskas came up with and dominated thereafter," national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said.

Jai clinched the second round 7-3 to make it 9-5 in the overall scoreline, a cushion that helped him seal the issue comfortably in the end.

"The strategy changed with every round. Jai gained in confidence in the second round and waited for Petrauskas to attack. He sometimes fought on counter-attack and that frustrated Petrauskas," said Sandhu.