Ali Qamar crashes out in quarters

India's hopes of winning a medal in boxing suffered a serious setback when Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mohammad Ali Qamar crashed out in the quarter-finals of the light flyweight category at the Asian Games on Tuesday.

Qamar, one of the brightest medal prospects for India after his superb show in Manchester, went down 11-21 to Harry Tanamor of The Philippines at the the Masan Gymnasium.

The Indian pugilist could never really recover from the early assault launched by his rival who took a comfortable lead.

After being at the receiving end for most part of the fight, Qamar closed the gap in the last two rounds with a few crisp punches but it came too late in the day to alter the result.

The Kolkata boxer also paid dearly for leaving his defence loose at times.

Ramananand and Jitender Kumar, who have made it to the quarter-finals, will now carry India's medal hopes though they are expected to face stiff opposition in their next bouts.