Sport - Boxing

Boxers return after a decent show

NEW DELHI: Fighting against odds and a partisan crowd, flyweight pugilist Sunil led India to a memorable bronze finish at the fourth Commonwealth boxing championship in Liverpool. Despite finishing behind England and Australia after having won the championship in Glasgow, Scotland, two years ago, a creditable third place by juniors augurs well for India.

“We won the championship in Glasgow with the senior boxers, and now the junior boxers fought against seniors from the other countries and still managed a podium finish,” said an elated coach G. Manoharan.

The 11-member team returned early on Monday morning with one gold, two silver and six bronze medals. “We could have done better, but I’m still happy with this collection of medals,” said Manoharan.

“I was confident of winning a medal, but became little sceptical when some judging calls went against us,” said Sunil. In the 51kg final, Sunil came face-to-face with P. Butler of England and fought like a man possessed, according to Manoharan.

“It was a tough bout, but I kept my focus and pounded punches without a break to leave Bulter on the defensive. Early points really helped me, otherwise he would have closed in on me later on,” said Sunil.

The Secretary of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF), Col. K. Muralidharan Raja, said the decision to send junior team for a senior meet was justified. “There was a lot of criticism from both the boxing enthusiasts and the senior boxers, who claimed it was their right to take part,” said Col. Raja. On the contrary, the IABF’s strategy paid off. and it would help the federation plan accordingly for the future — considering that the Olympic qualifying World championship is just three months away.

“Sending junior boxers to the Chicago World championship would be a little premature, but if they perform up to the mark in the National championship in Delhi, there could be one or two who might just be blooded in,” he said.

Light-flyweight T. Nanao Singh and lightweight Rakesh Kalaskar were the worthy winners of silver medals. Nanao Singh had a close fight with Northern Ireland’s P. Barnes before losing 22-30, while Kalaskar found the going tough against England’s T. Stalker, losing 10-32.

“I had a tough semifinal against Tanzania’s P.C. Mtagwa and felt drained out after that bout,” said Kalaskar, who trains at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. Still, the junior National champion was happy with his performance as it was his first outing against the seniors. — Principal Correspondent

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