Egged on by a capacity crowd at the Talkatora Stadium, Jai dominated the proceedings to notch up an easy 11-1 triumph after getting a bye in the first round.
Indian boxers continued their winning ways with Asian silver medallist Jai Bhagwan (60kg) becoming the third to enter the pre-quarterfinals with a comprehensive win over Nauru's Colan Caleb in his opening bout of the Commonwealth Games here today.
Egged on by a capacity crowd at the Talkatora Stadium, Jai dominated the proceedings to notch up an easy 11-1 triumph after getting a bye in the first round.
The 25-year-old Indian, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Championships in March this year, now meets Tanzania's Nasser Mafuru, who defeated Papua New Guinea's Andrew Opugu 6-1 in his preliminary bout.
A "moody" boxer according to national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu, Jai took some time to settle down against his rival but still managed to take a 2-1 lead in the opening round while attempting timing punches to bring down Mafuru.
Jai's aggression started paying dividends in the second round and he connected some power-packed hooks and upper-cuts to break Caleb's shell guard with a flurry of right hooks.
"It's just the first bout. There was pressure in the first round because he can be dangerous if he gets a lead but I had the height advantage," Jai said after his bout.
"I was trying for a timing punch in the first round to knock him down but when it didn't come, I just focused on attacking him as much as possible," he added.
Jai joins Amandeep Singh (49kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) in the pre-quarterfinal stage of the competition where India won a gold, a silver and two bronze in the previous edition.
"Jai is a very moody boxer. If he is in the flow, then he can beat anyone, it's all in the mid. He wanted to knock him down with a timing punch but when it didn't work, thankfully he changed strategy accordingly," he said.
Nine-time national champion Dilbag Singh is the second and the only other Indian boxer in action today. He will be in the ring in the evening session against Tonga's Villiami Latu in his light welterweight 69kg category opening bout.
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