BAKU (Azerbaijan) June 24:Already through to the Olympics, Indian boxers Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) on Friday had to be content with bronze medals in the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament here.
While Vikas was declared medically unfit and had to concede his bout against Turkmenistan’s Achilov Arslanbek, Manoj lost 0-3 to reigning European champion Pat McCormack of Britain.
In another disappointing news for India, Sumit Sangwan’s (81kg) hopes of qualifying for the Olympics also ended on Friday. Sumit, who lost to top seed Petr Khamukov of Russia in the quarterfinal last night, would have remained in contention had his opponent gone on to win the gold medal. But the Russian chose to give a walkover in the semifinal, dashing Sumit’s hopes.
Vikas sustained the cut last night during his quarterfinal contest against Korea’s Lee Dongyun. The Indian triumphed 3-0 to make the semifinal and assure himself of an Olympic quota berth. However, the injury he sustained required stitches on his forehead, which forced him out of Friday’s semifinal clash.
“Vikas Krishan can’t box today as he was declared medically unfit by the official doctors of the competition in the morning weigh in and medical examination because of stitches above his eyes,” an official of the Indian team said.
