It was a 10 on 10 for Indian women boxers as far as clinching medals at the Asian Championship was concerned but national head coach Mohammed Ali Qamar believes the gold count could have been higher than one if their training had not been disrupted by Covid-19. The Indian women's boxing team will be returning with one gold, three silver and six bronze medals from the event in Dubai, ensuring that all 10 weight categories featured an Indian medallist. Seven of these medals were secured on the day of draws itself thanks to the small size of competition. "I am very satisfied with the performance overall. Yes, we could have got more gold medals but given that we hardly got to train before the championships, I cannot complain," Ali Qamar told PTI.

"All the silver-winners lost very close bouts and gave it their best. As a coach there is nothing more I can ask for," he added. Ali Qamar was referring to the 2-3 losses endured by the Olympic-bound M C Mary Kom (51kg), and tournament debutants Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) and Anupama (81+kg). All three of them fought draining contests and fell short only marginally. Olympic-bound defending champion Pooja Rani (75kg) was the lone Indian to clinch a gold. Interestingly the championship bout was her first and only outing of the competition as she got a bye into the semifinals and a walkover into the finals. The tournament proper might not have been all that taxing but women boxers had a tough time preparing for the event, which was to be held in India originally but shifted to Dubai because of the escalating Covid-19 crisis here.