Diwakar Prasad and Harpal Singh progressed to the semi-finals of their respective boxing events in the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad on Monday.

Prasad, a bantamweight bronze medalist in the Commonwealth Championship and the Junior World Championship this year, outclassed Kasina David Munyasia of Kenya before the referee could stop the contest in the third round.

Prasad, however, faces an uphill task in the semi-finals where he faces Kim Il Won of Korea. The Busan Asian Games gold medalist had a walkover when his opponent Elongo Tasumba of Congo failed to turn up for the bout.

The other semi-final in the bantamweight will be between Gamo Ferdie of Philippines and Uzbek Sooltonov Bahodirjon.

Harpal Singh, another bronze medalist at Asian Championship last year in the super heavyweight catergory, also won, with referee stopping the contest against B Manuel Gregorio Capito of Angola.

National welterweight champion Dilbag Singh, however, bore the unwanted tag of the lone Indian loser. Dilbag Singh, known for his aggressive approaches, lost on points (17-26) to African Games gold medallist Meskine Benamar of Algeria.

In the other welterweight quarter-final matches, Asian Games champion Loo Kim Jung scored over Chibuye ERllis of Zambia 20-17 and Kazakhstan's Artaev Bakhtiyar defeated Mosolesa Tsle (Les) 17-15.

With three others getting a bye into the semi-finals of heavyweight category, Mihayilov Sergey of Uzbekistan, filled the fourth slot with an authoritative 28-10 win over Eleftheriou Apostolos of South Africa.

The semi-final bouts will held on oct 29.