With the crowd and Thai boxing officials upset at their man Sontaya Wongprates losing roaring its disapproval, the boxer refused to leave the ring and a spectator tried to attack the referee before police moved in.

Later the jury rejected the Thai protest without reviewing the tapes as all five judges gave the bout in Dingko's favour. The Thais have also officially apologised to the Organising Committee for the unruly scenes prompted by the Thai boxing team's behaviour. The Indian camp were not aware if there had been a protest.

At the Muongthong Thani Sports Complex, Dingko scored a sensational upset over localfavourite, Sontaya, a World Cup silver medallist and currently the world No. 3 in the weight category. But within minutes of the referee raising Dingko's hands signalling him as the victor, the crowd and some Thai boxing officials began roaring its disapproval. With one of the Thai boxing team officials shouting at the top of his voice Sontaya stayed on in the ring. Meanwhile Dingko went to his corner where the Indian coaches were waiting for him. As ringside officials went to talk to the Thai officials, a spectator jumped into the ring with the obvious intent of attacking the referee.

Dingko, who gave a very good account of himself and match his better known Thai rival blow for blow, was adjudged victor in a points decision that went 18-14 in his favour. That win made him the first Indian boxer since 1982 to enter an Asian Games final.

Sontaya who is one of the prospective Thai gold medallists, was still in the ring with the referee going towards the neutral corner when the spectator entered the ring.The police in swift action jumped into the ring and dragged the man away. A weeping Sontaya, who was also shouting was finally persuaded to leave the ring and some of the fans carried him on their shoulders around the stadium. The scene threatened to turn ugly before the police and organisers convinced the Thai boxing officials to leave the venue as soon as possible.

The lightning quick Dingko, adjudged Best Boxer in the Nationals Championships in the last two years, made light of his rival's reputation and the crowd support he had. He opened with a series of blows to Sontaya's head and logged some handy points early in the bout. The second round followed the pattern, before Sontaya attempted a comeback of sorts.

But with officials these days not allowed to know the points during the course of the bout, it would have been difficult for anyone to judge by how much Dingko was ahead. In the last two rounds, Sontaya was on the offensive, but Dingko often criticised for playing to gallery and leave hisdefense open, defended well this time.

The judges gave Dingko the fight much to the disapproval of the local fans and Thai boxing team. Dingko will meet another formidable opponent, Uzbekistan's Timur Tulyakov, the Goodwill games champion. He defeated Kazakhstan's Marat Mazimbayev on points in the other semi-final.