Devendro, Sarita claim silver; Vijender, Mandeep enter finals to assure two more silver
laishram Sarita Devi and laishram Devendro Singh settled for a silver each after losing their respective final bouts as India collected two medals on the concluding day of boxing competitions in the 20th Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.
Sarita lost to Shelley Watts of Australia after a gritty fight in women’s lightweight (57-60kg) category final while her younger brother was beaten by Paddy Barnes of Northern Ireland in the men’s light-flyweight (46-49kg) final at the Hydro Arena.
Devendro was no match for Barnes and the unanimous 3-0 verdict in favour of the Irish reflected that.
With the two silver, India has bagged three medals from boxing with Pinki Jangra having won a bronze after losing her semifinal bout against Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland in women’s 51kg category on Friday.
Sarita, a former World Championships silver medallist, dished out a gritty fight as she was on level terms till the midway in the four-round eight-minute bout.
The Manipuri mother of a son, however, lost steam in the later stages and was out-punched by her stronger and taller opponent to settle for a silver. Sarita lost 0-3 in a unanimous verdict of the three judges.
Sarita received a flurry of punches from Watts in the third and fourth rounds which rattled the Indian and that tilted the scale in favour of her Australian opponent. All the three judges’ identical cumulative scores of 39-37, 39-37, 39-37 were in favour of the Australian.
Earlier, Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh produced yet another dominating performance against Connor Coyle of Northern Ireland in the men’s middleweight (75kg) in an unanimous 3-0 verdict by the judges to book a place in the final and lead an Indian charge on the penultimate day of boxing competitions.
Mandeep Jangra (men’s 69kg) also boxed their way to the final.
Vijender got identical 10-9 scores from the three judges in the first round. He was able to land a left hook onto the Irishman in the second round. Another right jab followed and Coyle went defensive and Vijender again earned identical 10-9 scores from all the three judges.
The third round did not have much action but Vijender was the clear winner with all the judges giving yet Another identical 10-9 scores.
Asked later if it was an easy fight, Vijender said, “There is never an easy fight and I don’t underestimate my opponents. I will now prepare for the final bout.”
Mandeep, on the other hand, fought his way back in a remarkable fashion after trailing in the first two rounds of his semifinal bout against Steven Donnelley of Northern Ireland.
Mendeep was trailing at the end of the first round with the three judges giving identical 10-9 scores in favour of the Irishman. The Indian recovered a bit in the second round with two judges giving 10-9 scores in his favour.
Mandeep, however, stormed back in a fine fashion in the final round with the three judges giving identical 10-9 scores in his favour to win the semifinal bout in a split 2-1 verdict.
“It’s all about getting the gold medal now. I know Scott Fitzgerald (the other finalist) will be a very difficult opponent, but boxing is as much about heart as anything else, and I believe I have the biggest heart of all,” Mandeep said later.
In the men’s lightfly weight (46-49kg) category, Devendro played true to his aggressive self as he outclassed Ashley Williams of Wales in a thrilling contest to book a place in the final.
22-year-old Devendro won a 3-0 unanimous verdict against his opponent in a bout which kept the packed crowd on the edge of their seats.
The Indian was the dominant of the two boxers while the Welshman was left to defend most of the time. Devendro played in his characteristic fashion attacking from the word go and landed two full-blooded left hooks on Williams in the first round.
In the second round, the Manipuri sent a ferocious left and right on the Welshman who fell on the floor on the impact of the punchs. A dazed-looking Williams, however, got up and to his credit kept on coming all the time despite the incessant blows he got from the Indian.
All the three judges gave identical 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 points in favour of Devendro.
In the women’s competition, Sarita punched her way into the final of women’s lightweight (57-60kg) category after defeating Maria Machongua of Mozambique in a lop-sided contest.
Sarita completely dominated her semifinal bout as she landed her punches onto her opponent almost at will. The ferocity of the 29-year-old Manipuri was such that her Mozombique opponent tried to hide herself by holding on to the body of the Indian.
Sarita got an unanimous 3-0 verdict with the three judges giving 40-33, 40-32 and 40-34 scores in her favour in the four rounds of two minutes each.