Sarita Devi and Devendro Singh, the two boxing cousins from Manipur, both came in for some high praise from their opponents, but in the end had to settle for the silver medal on the podium on Saturday. Their silver medals put alongside Pinki Jangra's bronze from Friday made it three medals for boxing, which is assured of at least two more silver medals.
Mandeep Jangra in 69kg and 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh in men's 75kg are scheduled to meet English boxers Scott Fitzgerald and Anthony Fowler, who is related to the former English football star, Robbie Fowler, respectively.
On Friday night, Vijender outclassed Connor Doyle 3-0 in a unanimous decision, while a little before that Mandeep won a split decision over Steven Donnelly of Northern Ireland.
Sarita lost to Shelley Watts of Australia in a close fight in women's lightweight (57-60 kg) category final while Devendro was beaten by Northern Ireland's big star Paddy Barnes in the men's light-flyweight (46-49kg) final at the Hydro Arena.
Barnes, a big favourite at the start, was given a fight but the verdict was never in doubt and he ran out a 3-0 winner.
Devendro himself agreed with the result, saying, "It was a fair result. I lost to him in the Olympics quarter and I hope I can beat him the next time we meet. But this is my first Commonwealth Games and I am happy with the silver. I am World No. 3 and I want to keep improving and I am now focusing on Asian Games."
Barnes became the first boxer to retain his title in Commonwealth games history. He said, "That makes it extra special, and also because I am the team captain. The gold goes for the whole team."
On Devendro, he said, "He was one hell of a tough competitor. I would say in vast majority of these fights, certainly in my experience, winning the first round is the key to victory. So I really went for it from the first bell and that set the tone."
Sarita Devi, who wanted to win a medal for her young son said, "I am very happy with the silver. I would like to thank my family. I have had a tough two years to come back and I have only had four months to get ready for Commonwealth Games, so it was tough for me."
She added, "The atmosphere was terrific. But I can't wait to go out in front of my home fans in four years time and defend the title."
On Friday Pinki Jangra won a bronze after losing her semifinal bout against Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland in women's 51kg category on Friday.
Bronze in powerlifting
In powerlifting, Sakina Khatun claimed an unexpected bronze in the women's lightweight (upto 61 kg) powerlifting event. The Bangalore-born Khatun finished behind Nigeria's Esther Oyema (Gold) and England's Natalie Blake (Silver) settle at third position. The Indian lifted a total weight of 88.2 kilograms, while Esther lifted 136kgs and Natalie managed 100.2kgs.
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