Vijender Singh bows out in the semifinals after being penalised for holding his opponent; three other Indians enter boxing finals.
It was supposed to be a day when India’s Magnificent Seven were to set the juggernaut rolling. But it ended in the most farcical of ways that saw world champion Vijender Singh being knocked out of the Commonwealth Games in a bizarre fashion at the Talkatora Stadium here.
Seven Indian boxers were in action on Monday in their semifinal bouts, but eventually only three of them — Suranjoy Singh, Manoj Kumar and Paramjeet Samota — managed to reach the finals, which will be held on Wednesday.
But it was Vijender’s unexpected 3-4 loss to England’s Anthony Ogogo in an ill-tempered bout that sent everyone into a tizzy. The Indian team management promptly lodged a protest against the verdict, which was rejected by the officials late in the night and he had to settle for a bronze medal.
All of Ogogo’s four points came through the warnings handed to Vijender in the third round by Canadian referee Michael Summers. The world number one Indian was leading 3-2 with barely 20 seconds left on the clock when he was handed a warning for holding his rival after an engrossing fight.
The capacity crowd at Talkatora Stadium booed Ogogo and chanted ‘cheater, cheater’ even as a visibly upset Vijender made his way out of the arena without speaking to the waiting media.
Indian Boxing Federation secretary general PK Muralidharan Raja was disappointed by the verdict but said nothing could be done.
“We have tried whatever we could. Nothing else can be done now. It is unfortunate but we have to accept the verdict,” he said.
In case of warnings, two points are awarded if a boxer hits his opponent below the waist. Incidentally, Vijender was not the only boxer to have lost on warning. Earlier in the day, his compatriots Dilbagh Singh and Jai Bhagwan too were penalised for hitting their opponents below the waist.
Ogogo, who posed nude for a gay magazine in England, celebrated his biggest career win in style. But he was upset over the way Vijender behaved in the ring. “If you think the warnings were harsh then even I didn’t get points for some of the clear punches I landed. Even if he had not been warned, I think I would have won,” Ogogo said.
Three other Indians, Suranjoy, Manoj and Samota, however, made the final without any hiccups. Suranjoy outclassed Pakistan boxer Haroon Iqbal 9-3 and Manoj won 3-1 against Bahamas’s Valentine Knowles in the 64kg bout.
“I had tried my level best to dominate the bout right from the start. I want to win gold for India in the Wednesday’s finals,” Suranjoy said. Samota beat Tonga’s FA Junior 6-2.
Other Indians, Amandeep Singh (46-49 kg), Bhagwan (60kg) and Dilbagh (69kg) also lost their semifinal matches and had to settle for the bronze.
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