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Tuesday 19 August 2008
BEIJING - Thai boxer Worapoj Petchkoom missed out on his dream of winning an Olympic medal for his cancer-stricken father when he was beaten in the bantamweight quarter-finals by Cuba's Yankiel Leon on Monday.
Worapoj burst into tears after his convincing 10-2 defeat in which he trailed 2-0 after the first round and saw the gap grow steadily thereafter.
The Thai simply couldn't break down the Cuban's tight guard and was picked off with ease.
"I want to apologise to all the Thai people, especially my father, I know this will be my last chance of getting a (Olympic) medal," said the silver medallist from Athens.
There was also disappointment for India's Akhil Kumar, who had beaten Russian world champion Sergey Vodopyanov in the previous round, as he lost to Veaceslav Gojan of Moldova.
Kumar was clearly confident coming in and bizarrely spent most of the second round showboating, but at the end of it the pair were tied at 2-2.
The Indian seemed to buckle down in the second half of the fight, punching in frantic bursts, but Gojan produced the cleaner shots and comfortably ran out a 10-3 winner.
But Kumar had lost none of his confidence once the bout was over.
"I'm a better boxer than the scoreline suggests. If I wasn't a good boxer I wouldn't have beaten a world champion in the last round," he said.
"It pains my heart but today was just not my day. But I can take it. If I can feel happy to take a win I have the heart to take a loss."
Cocky Bruno Julie from Mauritius will face Mongolia's world silver medallist Badar-Uugan Enkhbat in the other semi-final after respective victories over Venezuelan Hector Manzanilla 13-9 and Khumiso Ikgopoleng of Botswana 15-2.
Giant Chinese Zhang Zhilei guaranteed the hosts a second boxing medal of these Games and third in history after a dominant 12-2 victory over Ruslan Myrsatayev of Kazkhstan in the super-heavyweight last eight.
Zhang delighted the home fans by felling the Kazakh in the second-round and using his six-inch height advantage and raking straight left to control the bout.
He faces world silver medallist Vyacheslav Glazkov of Ukraine, who beat Algeria's Newfel Ouatah 10-4, in the semi-final.
Ouatah's coach was livid after the fight accusing boxing officials of corruption.
"It's not an honest decision it's all to favour the Chinese because he wouldn't get through against Ouatah. Is that boxing?" blasted Amri Houari.
"He was boxing six people - his opponent and five judges. The world is the witness."
World champion Roberto Cammarelle of Italy produced a controlled performance to beat Colombia's Oscar Rivas 9-5, winning every round by a single point.
Britain's David Price continued his comfortable progress after Lithuania's Jaroslav Jaksto retired with an injured thigh before the start of the second round, with Price leading 3-1.
Price had already stopped Russian favourite Islam Timurziev in the second round of his first contest but will have his work cut out against Cammarelle in the semi-final.
World silver medallist Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine ended home hopes at featherweight as he outclassed Li Yang of China 12-3.
The southpaw had already established himself as the favourite after he beat world champion Albert Selimov of Russia in the first round - a consequence of the lacking of seeding.
Lomachenko will face Turkey's Yakup Kilic in the last four after he beat Abdelkader Chadi of Algeria 13-6.
France's Khedafi Djelkhir picked himself off the floor to beat Mexico's Arturo Santos 14-9.
"I was knocked down but I knew my family were watching back home so I tried to come back from hell," said Djelkhir. "I have pride."
The Frenchman faces Shahin Imranov of Azerbaijan next after he beat Cuba's Idel Torriente 16-14.
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