Bulgarian coach Lesov barred from ringside for accusing referee of corruption after Stanimira loses to Indian in split verdict
If there is an international boxing tournament, there has to be a controversy in it.
India were at the receiving end of it at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, where Sarita Devi was deprived of a certain victory over Korean home pugilist and subsequently suffered a two-year ban for lodging protest inside the ring.
Now, it is the turn of Bulgaria's Olympic champion boxing coach Petar Lesov to be barred from ringside. This, after he accused judges of corruption and favouring India's Sonia Chahal against Stanimira Petrova in the ongoing Women's World Boxing Championship here on Monday.
The 27-year-old Stanimira, 2014 WC gold medallist, appeared stunned when judges announced Sonia the winner in a split 3-2 verdict in the 57kg category.
What followed was not entirely different from how Sarita reacted after her loss to the Korean four years ago.
Stanimira and her coach started shouting, "cheating... corruption" as the referee raised the hand of India's 21-year-old boxer.
"It is corruption by the judges. It is not a fair result," yelled the duo after the bout. Petrova was seen pointing her finger at the officials while her coach threw a water bottle inside the ring.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) reviewed the incident and decided to bar Lesov from ringside for the remainder of the tournament. "The AIBA has decided to remove the accreditation, and therefore the right to be in the corner, from the coach of the Bulgarian delegation Petar Yosifov Lesov due to his unacceptable behaviour. The incident will be forwarded to the Disciplinary Commission for further review," AIBA said in a statement.
More protest
That was not the only controversial decision on Monday. In the 51kg bout, England's Ebonie Alice Jones and her coach were left surprised with a unanimous decision in favour of another home favourite, Pinki Rani.
Ebonie, the European champion, opened the bout in fast pace. Her left jab and combination of punches forced Pinki on the back foot in the first round. In the second also, there was hardly anything to choose between Pinki and Ebonie as both showed equal aggression to trade off punches.
It was only in the third that Pinki moved more swiftly than the tiring English pugilist and certainly looked better of the two. But the unanimous decision of judges to award Pinki the bout 5-0 triggered a silent protest from the English camp.
Both of them boycotted the mixed zone, which is mandatory after the bout, and went off showing dissent.
Lone loser
On a day when Simranjeet Kaur, too, made the list of eight Indians out of 10 who reached the quarterfinals, only Saweety Boora lost to Polish qualifier, Elzbieta Wojcik, in the middleweight 75kg category in an unanimous decision.
In the 64kg category, Simranjeet dominated the bout right from the word go against Megan Reid from Scotland. The debutant Ludhiana girl displayed fast and furious punching throughout the three rounds and deservedly got a unanimous decision in her favour.
Simranjeet, Sonia and Pinki joined the five other Indians — MC Mary Kom, Manisha Moun, Lovlina Borgohain and Bhagbati Kachari and Seema Poonia — in the quarters. Seema got a direct last eight entry in +81kg class because of fewer entries in her category.
Pinki Rani (red) reacts after being declared winner against Ebonie Alice Jones
Results (Indians only)
3:2 Sonia Chahal beat Stanimira Petrova (BUL) in 57kg
5:0 Pinki Rani beat Ebonie Jones (ENG) in 51kg
5:0 Simranjeet Kaur beat Megan Reid (SCO) in 64kg
0:5 Saweety Boora lost to Elzbieta Wojcik (POL) in 75kg
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