Chinese welterweight (69 kg) boxer Hanati Silamu was eliminated on Friday at the semifinal of the Beijing Olympic Games on Friday, losing to Carlos Banteaux Suarez from Cuba at 4-17.

He will be given a bronze medal.

Hanati was disappointed for he had wanted a gold. He said after the competition "I fought well and was aggressive, but my opponent is just better."

The Chinese boxer, 24, said he would try to achieve better results in next year's World Championships.

On his part, Suarez said he was confident in winning a gold at the Olympic Games, "I won 49 bouts in a row, 25 of them were international bouts. Last time I lost was to Billy Joe Sauners (from Britain), but I had beaten him here in the preliminaries."

"The final will be hard, but I'm going to give everything. This is the biggest event in a sportsman's life. I need to prepare myself for that pressure, but I'm physically and mentally prepared," he said.

Suarez will face Bakhyt Sarsekbayev from Kazakhstan in the final.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)