Som Bahadur Pun enters final

Indian boxer Som Bahadur Pun entered the finals of the featherweight (up to 57kgs) category at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday defeating Veiko Josua of Namibia in the third round of his semi-final bout.

The referee stopped the contest in the third round awarding Pun the bout on the basis of a technical knock out.

Pun will now face Pakistan's Haider Ali in the final, who edged out Benoit Gaudet of Canada on points (16-7) in the other semi-final.

There was more success for India in the ring as Mohammad Ali Qamar reached the final in the light fly weight 48 kg class.

The 20-year old Pun is India's reigning national champion and was a quarter-finalist at the World Junior Championships held earlier this year.

But Ali also boasts of winning a bronze in the last Asian Games and the experience of having participated in 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Qamar beat Nigeria's Ajabe Taoreed 27-13 in a fight that lasted the full four rounds. In Saturday's final the 22-year-old Indian will be up against England's Darren Langly who staged a superb rally to beat Malaysia's Z Mohamad 19-18.

Qamar was slow to start with but then took a 4-3 lead with ten seconds to go in the first round. At the bell for the first round he was up 5-3.

The second round saw him in full flow against Nigerian teenager unleashing a barrage of punches and exhibiting superb defence. At the end of the second round he was out of Taoreed's reach leading 15-5 and then eased through the next two rounds. He went into the last round up 20-12.

But, Jitender Kumar lost his semi-final bout to Steven Birch of England on points (32-23) in the men's Middleweight (Up to 75kgs) class.