Monday turned out to be a largely disappointing day for Indian boxers here with former World Championship bronze medalist Vikas Krishan (75kg) being the only one make it to the quarterfinal, while three others fell by the wayside.
Gaurav Bhiduri (52kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Kuldeep Singh (81kg) bowed out after losing their bouts.
Vikas he advanced to the quarterfinals after a comfortable win over Kanybek Uulu Azamat of Kyrgyzstan. The former World Championship bronze-medallist was on the top of his defensive game against Azamat.
Vikas is making his debut in the middleweight category after injury forced defending gold-medalist Vijender to miss the Games. The Haryana-lad relied on counter-attack. He waited for his rival to drop the guard and then knocked him back with incisive jabs.
With a shell guard which rarely gave Azamat any chance of landing a clear punch, Vikas impressed with his foot movement and his ring craft was duly appreciated by judges, who declared him an unanimous 3-0 winner.
Vikas will face Normatov Hurshidbek of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinal.
Meanwhile, all the three women in fray — M C Mary Kom, l Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani — have assured medals by advancing to the semifinals.