Vijender off to a winning start at London Olympics

India's star pugilist Vijender Singh got off to a winning start at the London Olympics, scoring a convincing victory over Danabek Suzhanov of Kazakhstan, in the men's middleweight 75-kg category, on Saturday.

The Beijing Olympics bronze medallist won his first bout 14-10, at the ExCel arena, to advance to the round of 16.

Vijender was cautious at the start as he took a 5-4 lead after the first round, but gradually scored to increase it to 9-7 by the end of the second round.

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The Haryana boxer was tactically superior and used his long reach to good advantage.

He proved his superiority in the third and final round by claiming five points, while his opponent got just one.

The day thus ended on a bright note for Indian boxers, after young Shiva Thapa went down to Mexico's Oscar Valdez Fierro 14-9 in the 56kg class opening round bout.

Thapa trailed 2-4 in the opening round, made a comeback in the second to clinch it 4-3, only to be punished hard in the final round, which he lost 3-7.

"I am delighted to make it through to the next round, he was a tough opponent. Now it's on to the next challenge," said the 26-year-old Vijender.

"I want to go home with a different coloured medal this time," he added.

Vijender will next take on Terell Gausha of the US on August 2.

Gausha got the better of Andranik Hukobyan of Armenia in the opening round, the referee stopping contest.