Moscow (PTI): Dinesh Kumar became the second Indian to assure himself of a medal at the AIBA Boxing World Cup after he defeated Algeria's Abdelhafid Benchabla 17-11 to enter the semifinals of the light heavy weight division here.
The Haryana boxer will face Vladimir Cheles in the semifinals on December 13 after the Russian beat Artur Beterbeiv of Maldives 5-1 in the other quarterfinal.
Wednesday night's win was a sweet revenge for the Haryana boxer, who lost to Benchabla in the first round of Beijing Olympics.
"The win is a great morale-booster for me. My next bout is a tough one but hopefully I will be able to come good," Dinesh said after his bout.
India has a four-strong presence at the event and bantam weight pugilist Akhil Kumar has already advanced to the semifinals. Jitender Kumar (51kg) and A L Lakra (57kg) will open their campaign later in the evening.
The World Cup is a prize-money tournament, which offers USD 10,000 for the gold medallist and USD 5,000 and USD 2,500 for the silver and bronze winners respectively.