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Agence France Presse
 
BEIJING: Silamu Hanati goes into Friday's Olympic welterweight semi-finals determined to bring more glory to his troubled Muslim homeland in China's northwest after already ensuring himself an historic medal.

Hanati, 23, dispatched Toureano Johnson from the Bahamas 14-4 in the quarter-finals to ensure himself of at least one of the two welterweight bronze medals on offer.

By winning Friday's semi-final against Cuban Carlos Banteaux Suarez, Hanati can bring more pride to the people back home in Xinjiang, a remote region of China bordering central Asia that has suffered deadly unrest recently.

"This was a great victory, it will make all the people of Xinjiang very happy," said Hanati, a Muslim from the Kazak minority, said after his quarter-final victory.

"I tried not to think about (the medal) too much, I only wanted to fight my match and fight to my potential."

The victory by the one-time farm boy is already causing ripples of excitement in the restive region, his coach said.

"The significance of this victory is huge, for an ethnic minority in a border region to win an Olympic medal will bring strength to the motherland," Abulikemu Abudulaxiti told AFP.

"This is not a victory for an individual, but it is a victory for the whole team and region."

Hanati is not satisfied with the bronze medal and would make every effort to beat Suarez to reach Sunday's gold medal match, he added.

"He is going to continue to fight, he will not give up now," Abulikemu said.

Born on a farm in Xinjiang's oil-rich Altay region, Hanati's older brother began training him for boxing when he was five-years old, close relative Ayibieke Aiyitiken, who is in Beijing to cheer on Hanati, told AFP.

Hanati reached the round of 16 at the Athens Olympics, and has continued to improve, winning bronze at both the 2007 World Championships in Chicago and last year's Asian Championships in Mongolia.

While he has been competing in Beijing, tensions have been high in Xinjiang where Chinese authorities have blamed Muslim "terrorists" from the Uighur ethnic group for a series of deadly attacks on police and government targets.

The population of Xinjiang, a vast desert region, is about 20 million, with more than 40 percent Uighurs and up to seven percent Kazak, according to government figures.

Kazak's have not been linked to the recent unrest, which Chinese state press said has left 31 people dead this month.