Home favourite Li goes through

Yang Li thrilled the home crowd today as he advanced to the second round of the featherweight division with an easy victory over Brazil’s Robson Conceicao.

Li, winner of bronze at the World Amateur Championships last year, got the crowd off their feet at the Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium as he dominated his bout from start to finish to win 12-4.

The 26-year-old will next compete in the round of 16 on Friday.

American teenager made a memorable Olympic debut as he beat Italy’s Alessio di Savino 9-1.

The 19-year-old managed to keep his opponent off balance throughout the bout.

“That was my big thing was just to stay calm,” Williams said. “With the Olympic Games, I tend to get hyped.

“(It was my) first fight, so I (need to) work on some other stuff later on ... and get a little ring rust off.”

Williams will face Khedafi Djelkhir of France, who recorded a 13-9 triumph over Paul Fleming of Australia.

Other winners in the featherweight division included Luis Porozo of Ecuador, Bahodirjon Sultonov of Uzbekistan, Vasyl Lomachenko of the Ukraine, Arturo Santos Reyes of Mexico, Alaa Shili of Tunisia, Cuba’s Idel Torriente, Enkhzorig Zorigtbaatar of Mongolia, Nikoloz Izoria of Georgia and Azerbaijan’s Shahin Imranov.

In the lightweight division, Romania’s Georgian Popescu, beat American Sadam Ali 20-5.

The 19-year-old Ali only trailed by one point after the first round but could not keep up with Popescu, who outscored the American, 17-3, over the final three rounds.

“I was definitely nervous, this is one of the biggest moments of my life,” Ali said. “I was disappointed in my performance, I didn’t look who I was supposed to and I’m sorry to everyone back home.

“This is not the last of me and everyone is going to know who I really am.”

Other lightweight winners included Asylbek Talasbaev of Kyrgyzstan, Anthony Little of Australia, Domenico Valentino of Italy, Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas, Francisco Javier Vargas of Mexico, Daouda Sow of France, Puerto Rico’s Jose Pedraza Gonzalez, Qing Hu of China and Kazakhstan’s Merey Akshalov.

Russia’s Alexey Tishchenko, who won gold in Athens at featherweight, was also victorious in his Olympic debut at lightweight.