Olympic champion Zou Shiming of China met no challenge from his opponent in the men's 49kg boxing competition as he sailed into the semi-finals at the 16th Asian Games here on November 22.

Slashing his Laotian opponent Phoilevy Hatsanai continuously with stylish combination of right and left, Zou, the reigning champion, claimed an easy victory in his second match here with a convincing score of 13-1.

"My strategy was right in today's fight. Since the next match will be more difficult, and my upcoming opponent was also watching this game, I saved my strengths in the fight," said 29-year-old Zou.

Zou is to take on Ruenroeng Amnat of Thailand, who also claimed an overwhelming victory in the quarter-finals.

Ruenroeng ranked the fifth in this category at the Beijing Olympics. "He is an old rival of mine," said Zou, "We are familiar with each other, so the performance and mindset will be decisive in the semis."

Referring to Zou, Ruenroeng said that he would focus on better defence tactics as "Zou is very aggressive". "I have fought against him three times before and lost one of the fights."

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2010)