Indians bag two bronze medals

NEW DELHI, JULY 9. In a tournament vastly dominated by Thai boxers, the Indian team won two bronze medals in the prestigious 24th King's Cup tournament, which concluded in Bangkok recently.

Dilbag Singh won two bouts to reach the semifinals where he lost to Azerbaijan's Ruslan Khairov and settled for a bronze medal in the welterweight category.

India's second medal came from Harpal Singh in a super- heavyweight category in a farcical contest as he earned the medal without winning a single bout. There were only four boxers in the fray and Harpal lost his opening round, a semifinal match, to Zokirov Lagigbek of Uzbekistan. Lagigbek went on the win the gold medal in this category.

Among other Indians, Mohammed Ali Qamar and Som Bahadur Pun emerged as best Indian hopes for the future. Both fought well and were victims of close decisions.

``Qamar was the finest Indian boxer,'' said the vice- president of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF), Mr. Khoibi Islam, who accompanied the team to Bangkok. Qamar outclassed Kuwaiti Hamed Zafen 15-0 in the first round. ``In the second, Qamar was equally good against Thai Nopphadol Khougchana. He was winning but judges gave computer points in the last minute as the four- round bout ended 10-10. After considering the individual scores of the judges, Qamar lost out 35-38,'' Mr. Khoibi said.

This, despite the fact that Qamar did not have proper rest before the tournament. The boxer had just returned from the World Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and he was named in the team for Bangkok. India had sent an eight-member team for the King's Cup.

Som Bahadur, in the 57kg class, opened his campaign with a 9-2 win against Kandy Chibwisi of Nigeria. Som was at his best against Thailand's Terdsak Jandang, but lost a close fight 10-8. The Thai pugilist went on to win the gold medal. ``Overall the Indian performance was okay. But the Thai boxers were getting the advantage of TV scoring as the local officials were hand- gesturing to the boxer about the points he was up or down,'' said Mr. J. S. Waldia, the coach of Indian team. ``We had no such facility at the venue.''

India also raised objection to Thailand fielding four teams in the tournament. ``International Boxing rules prohibits a country to field not more than two teams,'' Mr. Khoibi said. ``We spoke to the AIBA President, Prof. Anwar Chaudhary. Though he was unhappy with the situation, he did not do anything to stop Thailand from it.''

The results:

Mohammed Ali Qamar (48kg): First round (bt Hamed Zafen of Kuwait 15-0); second round (lost to Nopphadol Khougchana of Thailand 35- 38).

Suresh Singh (51kg): First round (lost to Somijit Jongjizhar of Thailand 0-12).

Som Bahadur Pun (57kg): First round (bt Kandy Chibwisi of Nigeria 9-2); second round (lost to Terdsak Jandang of Thailand 10-8).

Ramanand (60kg): First round (bt Esmae Bochagna 11-1); second round (lost to Farhad Ajalov of Azerbaijan 3-6).

Suranjit Singh (63.5 kg): First round (lost to Manas Boon Jamnong 2-7).

Dilbag Singh (67kg): First round (bt Uzbekistan 10-0); second round (bt Techarpol Suwarnnalerd of Thailand 11-10); semifinal (lost to Ruslan Khairov of Azerbaijan 2-12).

Hardeep Singh (75kg): First round (lost to Dennis Tchernych of Russia 0-15).

Harpal Singh (91 plus kg): First round (lost to Zokirov Lagigbek of Uzbekistan 2-9).

- Our Sports Reporter

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