2008 Olympic Games page 

Twenty-year-old Bruno Julie is the toast of Mauritius after guaranteeing the Republic its first Olympic medal in any sport after beating Hector Manzanilla Rangel from Venezuela 13:9 in his quarterfinal on Monday in the Workers' Gymnasium.

Julie, the Africa Cup of Nations champion, overcame a 5:6 deficit after two rounds to clinch the most famous victory in Mauritius' short history. However Julie, who is only the 10th Mauritian boxer since Mauritius sent its first boxer to the Olympics in 1988, is not prepared to settle for nothing less than the top when it comes to his semifinal against 2008 Pan American bronze medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon (CUB) who beat Athens 54kg silver medallist Worapoj Petchkoom of Thailand 10:2.

Pic: Julie is on the verge of receiving a perfect jab to the chin from Manzanilla Rangel

"I'm very experienced and I knew I would win," Julie said. "We said in a press conference that we were here to win and we are going to."

Another key 54kg clash saw the AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007 silver medallist Badar-Uugan Enkhbat (MGL) convincingly beat the 2008 President's Cup bronze medallist Ikgopoleng Khumiso (BOT) 15:2.

"I think I can get the gold medal, an Olympic gold medal is my dream," Enkhbat said. "I will do this for all Mongolians."

"I am pleased to have fought in all three bouts, it's a big achievement," Khumiso said. "I am the first boxer from Botswana to make it this far in the Olympics. I am part of an organisation called Right to Play. I think my achievements will teach children that playing is not only about toys but about using your body too."

Pic: Akhil Kumar (IND), in blue, lost to Veaceslav Gojan (MDA) in the 54kg quarterfinal

In the 57kg quarters, AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007 bronze medallist Yakup Kilic (TUR) beat 2007 All Africa Games champion Abdelkader Chadi (ALG) before the AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007 silver medallist Vasyl Lomachenko (UKR) repeated his victory in Chicago by beating Yang Li (CHN) 12:3.

The +91kg division finished the session with world champion Roberto Cammarelle (ITA) proving too good for Pan American champion Oscar Rivas (COL), comfortably winning the bout 9:5 while the AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007 silver medallist Vyacheslav Glazkov (UKR) outscored the All Africa Games runner-up Newfel Ouatah (ALG) 10:4. 

Tuesday's quarterfinals will feature the 48kg, 60kg and 81kg with the bout of the day expected to be the 48kg world champion Zou Shiming (CHN) against 2005 world championship bronze medallist Birzhan Zhakypov (KAZ).

The session starts at 19:00.

Semifinal stats to date:
Total boxers: 24
Total countries represented: 17 (Azerbaijan, China (II), Cuba (IV), Dominican Republic, France (II), Great Britain, Italy (II), Kazakhstan, Korea, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Ukraine (II))