Stranded at the airport for nearly 24 hours and without their luggage for a good part of the competition, Indian women boxers had to deal with more than just opponents at the Nation's Cup in Serbia but showed tremendous fortitude to return with half a dozen medals
Neeraj
Neeraj
New Delhi: Stranded at the airport for nearly 24 hours and without their luggage for a good part of the competition, Indian women boxers had to deal with more than just opponents at the Nation's Cup in Serbia but showed tremendous fortitude to return with half a dozen medals.
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The 10-member team returned after finishing third in the competition.
Haryana-girl Neeraj (51kg), competing in his maiden international tournament, stood out with a gold medal, while Sarjubala Devi (48kg), Priyanka Chaudhary (60kg), Pooja (69kg) and Seema Punia settled for silver medals.
Veteran Kavita Goyat (75kg) was the lone bronze-medallist. The girls reached Vrbas, where the event was staged, a night before the competition started.
This was after a gruelling journey that was stretched by close to 24 hours due to cancellation of flights following snowstorms across Europe. "All the flights had been cancelled and we were stuck at the airport which re sembled a madhouse with so many people stranded from all over the world," chief coach Gurbax Sandhu said.
"The federation got us on another flight quickly. But once we landed in Vrbas, we realised our luggage had not arrived. Thankfully, the girls had kept their fighting gear and gumshields in hand baggage. But then their medical books were in luggage," he said. "The organisers were cooperative. They allowed us to compete without medical books considering our situation," he added.
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