Thaindian News

By Alkesh Sharma
New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) India’s Olympic bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh Monday suffered a shocking loss in the semifinals while his compatriots Suranjoy Singh, Manoj Kumar and Paramjit Samota made the finals without any hiccups at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here.

Vijender, a prominent gold medal hope, lost 3-4 to English boxer Anthony Ogogo in the semifinal of the 75kg and won the bronze medal. All losing semifinalists get a bronze.

The Indian team management had lodged a protest saying that Vijender’s warning points given to Ogogo were not fair, but the jury turned down the appeal.

In the 52 kg category, Suranjoy outclassed Pakistani boxer Haroon Iqbal 9-3 and Manoj won 3-1 against the Bahamas’ Valentine Knowles in the 64kg bout. Paramjit Samota won 6-2 against the well-built Tongan F.A. Junior in the super heavyweight category (+91 kg).

Much was expected of Vijender, and despite starting on a defensive note he took a 1-0 lead till the end of second round. But in the final round, the English boxer was awarded four points, dashing all hopes of an Indian victory. A dejected Vijender refused to talk to the media.

Suranjoy, however, was satisfied with his performance and was optimistic about Wednesday’s final.

“I had tried my level best to dominate the bout right from the start. I want to win gold for India in the Wednesday’s finals,” said Suranjoy.

Iqbal, who is the younger brother of famous British boxer of Pakistani origin Amir Khan, praised Suranjoy.

“He is a great fighter and it was a tough match. I enjoyed fighting against him,” said Iqbal, who decided to represent Pakistan after he was snubbed by his country of birth, England.

Manoj thanked the crowd for the support.

“I was not worried about increasing the margin of winning. The only thing that matters is whether you win or not and I always play according to my opponent. I am very excited after the win and I also like to thank the crowd for their support,” said Manoj.

Samota said he was not afraid of his taller opponent.

“It does not matter that how tall or well built is your opponent. Th only thing that plays crucial role in winning a bout is your will power,” he said.

Other Indians Amandeep Singh (46-49 kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Dilbagh Singh (69kg) also lost their semifinal matches and had to settle for the bronze.

Amandeep was beaten by Northern Ireland boxer Paddy Barnes in a tough match 5-6 and Jai Bhagwan was thrashed by Thomas Stalker of England 5-10. Dilbagh was edged out by Northern Ireland’s Patrick Gallagher 5-4.

A distraught Amandeep said: “I had done a lot of hard work but today I did not fight as I planned. I knew that Barnes boxes with a tight guard and I also tried to do the same, but it didn’t work. I deliberately waited for him to attack first but it did not work either.”

“I am a bit happy to win a medal for my country. Now my next aim is Asian Games and I will try my best to win gold there,” said Amandeep.

Jai Bhagwan said: “I tried my level best. I think both of us were equal and evenly matched. He won on the basis of warnings and not on punches. But I wish him luck for the upcoming bout.”