There was no stopping the Indian boxers' victory march at the Commonwealth Games.
Asian gold medallist Suranjoy Singh (52kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) advanced to the quarter-finals, while defending champion Akhil Kumar (56kg) booked a place in the last-16 stage in front of a rapturous home crowd at the Talkatora stadium on Thursday.
On yet another day of dominance by India's boxers, a packed audience at the dome-shaped arena was treated to some flamboyance by Akhil, tactful boxing by Amandeep and loads of energy by Suranjoy.
Akhil blanked Pakistan's Qadir Khan 7-0 to start his title defence on a perfect note even as Amandeep dug deep from his experience to notch a hard-fought 4-0 triumph over Rwanda's Haziza Matusi.
While Akhil takes on European silver-medallist Iain Weaver, to whom he lost in the opening round of the Commonwealth Championships earlier this year, Amandeep is up against Malaysia's Muhammad Fuad.
Later in the evening, Suranjoy showed what tempo-boxing is all about with a power-packed performance to out-punch Ghana's Olympian Manyo Plange 15-4.
Amandeep started the day for India and had a tough time against Matusi. The scoreline might suggest a 4-0 win but Amandeep said he was pushed to the limit by his opponent.
Matusi's solid defence left Amandeep confused in the opening three minutes and it took him a while to find his rhythm against the Rwandan, who dodged masterfully.
It was 0-0 in the opening round but the Indian managed to sneak through Matusi's defence in the next six minutes to claim a tough one.
"Boxers like him are difficult to handle because they keep shell guards and their tactics are never quite clear. I kept my guard and tried to taunt him a bit to open up. Managed to connect a few punches and win the bout. It was tough and very draining," he said.
Just 15 minutes after that, Akhil walked into the arena to a thunderous applause and he turned on the style much to the joy of fans.
The 29-year-old, who has been battling injuries and indifferent form for more than a year, was confidence personified after tactfully gauging his rival in the opening three minutes.
Often criticised for being reckless with his defence by keeping an open guard, the Haryana-boxer was all caution in the first round which ended 2-0 in his favour after he managed to connect a right hook and an upper-cut.
Akhil began to show glimpses of his famed showmanship and sharp reflexes in the second round, bringing the Talkatora to its feet every time he scored a point. A flurry of body blows had him 4-0 ahead of Qadir by the end of the second round and the only defending champion in the Indian boxing team simply toyed with his rival in the final three minutes.
He even did a little jig much to the frustration of the 19-year-old Qadir, who threw everything at the Indian only to be thwarted.
Asked whether it was special to beat an opponent from arch-rival Pakistan in front of home fans, Akhil said all that mattered to him was the win.
"Every win is special and this is no different. To me he was just a rival, his nationality doesn't matter in the ring. In there, I have to beat him and I did just that. It's good that my body blows and upper-cuts got me points. It's a marked change from what was happening at the Commonwealth Championships in March," Akhil said after the win.
On whether he is completely fit after being laid low by several injuries in the past one year, Akhil said, "Boxing is a contact sport and injuries can happen anytime. We need good medical staff to deal with such things."
Even his next round opponent Weaver thinks that the battle-hardened Indian looks much fitter.
"He is the same unorthodox boxer that he was six months ago but looks fitter and it will be a tough bout," said Weaver, who thrashed Swaziland's Vusie Simelane before the referee awarded the bout to him in the second round.
The home fans had more reason to celebrate in the evening session when Suranjoy delivered a brilliant performance against a very aggressive opponent.
Playing from a distance has never been Suranjoy's strength but that is exactly what he had to resort to against the powerful Ghanian.
"I had not played against him in the past but I knew that he has lot of power. Had I stood around, he might as well have dominated me. The coaches told me to just connect and run. I did that and thankfully the tactic paid off," the 23-year-old Manipuri said after the win.
"I generally like to fight from close range to keep the tempo but in this case I couldn't have attacked too much because this is what he wanted me to do," he added.
