MILAN, Sep 6 (UNI): Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh kept Indian hopes alive at the World Boxing Championships,outpunching Azamat Belgibayev of Kazakhstan to enter themiddleweight (75kg) pre-quarterfinals while Thokchom NanaoSingh crashed out of the second round of the light flyweight(48kg) category here.
Vijender, the top seed in his category, did not break much sweat, recording an easy 14-8 victory.
The world number two from Haryana, who got a bye in the first round, will now fight Steve Rolls of Canada for a place in the last eight.
Vijender did not enjoy a good start and was trailing 0-3 after the first round.
But the gutsy lad from Bhiwani fought back strongly, taking a 9-8 lead in the second round before notching up five points without reply in the final round to win 14-8.
Nanao was not so lucky, however, as he landed up against Pongprayoon Kaeo of Thailand who had earlier defeated him in the Asian Championship final and was comprehensively beaten 4-16 on points.
The junior World Champion failed to match his technically superior Thai opponent, who took charge right from the start, opening up a 4-1 lead in the first round.
Nanao was finding it difficult to counter his taller opponent, and was outpunched in the second round as well with the Thai taking his tally to 10 points.
Kaeo took things easy in the third and final round before emerging a deserving winner.
Dhoni at no 1 among World's Top-Earning Cricketers, Sachin next NEW YORK, Sep 6 (UNI): Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hastopped 'The World's Top-Earning Cricketers' list with a whopping10 million dollars followed by batting maestro Sachin Tendulkarat the second spot with an earning of eight million dollars.
According to the Forbes magazine, the list also features three other Indian players - Yuvraj Singh and former India captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
Yuvraj with 5.5 million and Dravid five million dollars are at the third and fourth spots, respectively.
Ganguly and Australia captain Ricky Ponting share the sixth place with earnings of 3.5 million dollar each.
"Paycheck figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months," Forbes said.
"With its deep-pocketed owners and global appeal, nine of the 10 highest-paid cricket players call the Indian Premier League (IPL) home, the publication added.
"Take Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings and tops our list as cricket's first 10 million dollar -a-year man (that's 5,426 dollar for each run scored).
"His 8 million doolar in endorsements, from the likes of Reebok, General Electric and Pepsi, is 45 per cent more than any other player.
"Among all Indian athletes and entertainers, Dhoni's 17 corporate sponsors is second to only Bollywood star and co- owner of the Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan," Forbes informed.
About Tendulkar, the magazine said the holder of numerous records is considered among the greatest batsmen in cricket history.
he's one of five IPL players who have been bestowed 'icon' status, meaning he automatically receives a paycheck 15 per cent larger than his highest paid teammate," Forbes said.
"Tendulkar's 1.1 million dollar salary from the Mumbai Indians helped push his total earnings to 8 million dollar over the last 12 months," it added.
England's Andrew Flintoff is fifth with earnings of four million dollars followed by Australia's Brett Lee and star English batsman Kevin Pietersen who raked in three million dollars - both are at eighth place - and Australian Michael Clarke is ranked 10th with 2.5 million dollars.