Boxers Suranjoy Singh, Manoj Kumar and Paramjeet Samota dedicate their gold medals to senior teammates Vijender and Akhil, who missed out on the yellow metal
Boxers Suranjoy Singh, Manoj Kumar and Paramjeet Samota dedicate their gold medals to senior teammates Vijender and Akhil, who missed out on the yellow metal
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In the end, despite having finished with their best-ever three gold medal-winning haul at the CWG, the Indian boxing contingent was not quite over the moon. There was the regular celebration and hugging and flag-waving, but deep down there was a little void left by the losses to two of their senior-most boxers, Vijender Singh and CWG defending champ Akhil Kumar.
While Beijing Olympic bronze-winner and World No 1 Vijender had to settle for a bronze after losing his Middleweight 75kg semi-final to England's Anthony Ogogo on Monday, Akhil lost his 56kg quarter-final to Bruno Julie on Sunday and was out of medal contention.
However, such is the camaraderie within the Indian boxing contingent that yesterday's three gold medallists ufffd Suranjoy Singh, Manoj Kumar, Paramjeet Samota ufffd have all dedicated their medals to their senior heroes.
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"Vijenderbhai and Akhilbhai were unfortunate to lose, but they are great fighters. This one's for them," said Suranjoy, who did not even have to land a single punch to win the 52kg Flyweight final as his Kenyan opponent Benson Njangiru was unfit and failed to take to the ring.
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| Manoj Kumar: Gold in 64kg |
Defensive
Kumar began with a defensive approach as per coach GS Sandhu's instructions. "My aim was to exhaust him and then counter-attack," revealed Kumar.
It worked to the tee as Kumar, first took a punch and conceded a point but then counter-punched the Englishman to score four in the bargain in Round One. Round Two and Three were cakewalks for Kumar, who collected four and three points respectively giving away just one, before picking up gold.
The best fight of the night, however, had to be the last one ufffd India's Paramjeet Samota taking on a visibly stronger Trinidadian Tariq Abdul Haqq.
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| Paramjeet Samota: Gold in +91kg |
Even Samota admitted he was nervous. "I was tense before the bout. But in the end, one must have the heart to go out and fight whoever your opponent is. I did just that. And then every time I had a good punch, the crowd backed me up.
"While this medal is for my country and all my supporters, I'd like to especially dedicate it to Vijender and Akhil who have always supported and encouraged us," said Samota, who won his bout 5-1.
Coach Sandhu fired the parting shot. "Before the CWG, I had said we will win six to seven medals including one gold ufffd but we have won three golds, so this is a great performance from the boys.
"Unfortunately, two of our senior fighters Vijender and Akhil could not win gold but today's three wins are more or less a consolation for that.
"They are both great fighters and will bounce back for India very soon."
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