The duo are now assured of winning at least two silver medals for Thailand and are guaranteed cash incentives of Bt500,000 apiece from the National Sports Development Fund.

Somjit stopped Susa Katsuaki of Japan in three rounds. He took a commanding 7-2 lead in the first round, landing severe punches to the head of his inexperienced opponent. Somjit marched on with his aggressive form in the second, pummelling Katsuaki with sizzling one-two combinations and stinging jabs to increase his lead to 18-3.

The affair turned one-sided in the third round, as Katsuaki proved no match for the much stronger Somjit. Iranian referee Hassan Asgari stepped in to stop the contest with Somjit ahead 23-3.

Somjit, who has won two straight Asian Games, next takes on Filipino Payla Violito, who sent Chinese Ang Bo packing with a RSC decision in the third round after leading 40-20.

"I had studied his [Katsuaki's] tape a lot, and that's why I was a good match for him," Somjit said. "My match today wasn't too hard to win."

He won the lone gold for Thailand in the 2003 World Championships in Bangkok and the at the previous Games in Busan, South Korea.

"Against Violito in the final, I think it will not be that tough. I fought him in the SEA Games in Vietnam three years ago and beat him in the quarter-finals," the confident fighter added. "If it's not too much of an exaggeration, I think the match against him will be a piece of banana for me."

The final clash between Somjit and Violito, whose best performance took place in the 2004 Asian Championships on his home soil when he came from nowhere to snatch the gold medal, will take place tomorrow.

The later match between Manus and Kazakhstan's Serik Sapiyev was a thrilling clash of titans, as the former is an Olympic winner, the latter a world champion.

In the heart-pounding match, Manus took command in the first two rounds, thanks largely to sharp blows and exceptional footwork. Leading 13-6, Manus tried for more in the third round, but Sapiyev had nothing to lose.

He cornered the Thai star, pounding him with a series of powerful punches to the face that caused some bleeding from Manus's mouth and nose. Ringside doctors stepped in to check his condition and allowed the fight to continue. The score stood at 18-11 after three rounds.

The tight fourth round could have gone either way. With blood beginning to pour from Manus's nose and the doctors threatening to stop the fight at any time, Sapiyev made an all-out attempt to knock his opponent out.

Following several mighty blows, Manus was sent to the floor and given an eight count. But the final bell soon came to his rescue. Manus won the hard-fought thriller 22-18 and secured a place in Tuesday's final, where he will take on Korean Shin Myung Hoon, who out-scored Uzbekistan's Dilshod Mahmudov 23-20 yesterday.

"I did really well. I was scared when the doctor checked my nose three times. I was fine actually. I can go for the gold medal now," Manus said.

Today, three more Thai fighters - welterweight Angkhan Chomphuphuang, light flyweight Suban Pannon and bantamweight Worapoj Petchkoom - will test their mettle in the semi-finals. Angkhan faces Iranian Mohammad Sattarpour, Suban fights Filipino Castro Godfrey and Worapoj takes on another Filipino Joan Tipon.

Preechachan

Wiriyanupappong

The Nation

Doha