PTI
GLASGOW, AUG 3
A gold medal eluded the Indian boxers through the evening and the four pugilists in fray for the top prize, including Olympic bronze winner Vijender Singh, had to be content with a silver each in the 20th Commonwealth Games on Saturday.
Vijender, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was comprehensively beaten 3-0 by England’s Antony Fowler in men’s middleweight 75kg bout at the SSE Hydro.
The star Indian pugilist suffered a knockdown against Fowler as India ended their boxing campaign at the Games on a rather disappointing note.
As many as four Indians made it to the final in their respective weight categories but all of them suffered defeats.
Apart from the four silver, India have brought home a bronze. Besides Vijender, Mandeep Jangra (men’s 69kg), Laishram Devendro Singh (men’s 46-49kg) and Laishram Sarita Devi (women’s 57-60kg) lost their final bouts today. Pinki Jangra had won a bronze in women’s 51kg after losing her semifinal match yesterday.
Vijender, on whom the Indian boxing team had its hopes pinned, failed to live up to the expectations as he was beaten by a superior opponent in an unanimous verdict at a jampacked venue.
The 28-year-old Indian was not his aggressive self and failed to breach the tight defence of his opponent. To the dismay of the Indian team, Vijender got a knockdown in the first round itself as he failed to thwart a ferocious punch from the Englishman and he was on his knees as the referee began the countdown.
Vijender got up in no time but he looked rattled by the blow. Fowler dominated the second round also as he got the nod of all the three judges with Vijender finding it hard to land his punches on his opponent.
Vijender, who had won a silver in 2006 Melbourne Games and a bronze in 2010 Delhi Games, came back strongly in the third and final round and all the three judges gave scores in favour of him but the deficit from the first two rounds was too much for him to stage a fightback.
Jangra, too, struggled, losing his bout rather tamely, to England’s Scott Fitzgerald 3-0 while suffering three knockdowns.
