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Indians did not put up a fight
Indian men’s boxing contingent suffered casualties in the quarterfinal stage of the Incheon Asian Games at the Seonhak Gymnasium on Monday. Gautam Bhiduri crashed out of the last eight stage of the flyweight category (52-kg). The 21-year-old Indian was no match for Uzbekistan’s Zoirov Shakhobidin and struggled to get on top of him in all the three rounds. The dominance of the Uzbek pugilist can be gauged from the fact that all the three judges ruled in his favour in each round. Bhiduri failed to win a single round from any of the judges, summing up how he boxed on Monday.
2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist Mandeep Jangra also bit the dust in the quarterfinals, losing to Thailand’s Saensit Apichet. The Thai pugilist proved his tactical superiority in no uncertain terms winning all the three rounds comprehensively.
Kuldeep Singh was another Indian to bow out in the quarterfinals, losing to Iran’s Ehsan Rouzbahani in the light heavyweight category (81-kg). The 25-year-old boxer was comprehensively beaten by the Iranian on a day, which saw three Indians being shown the exit door in the quarterfinals.
Superb performance by Vikas
Earlier, Vikas Krishnan dished out a powerful performance to outbox Kyrgyzstan’s Kanybek Uulu on points to make it to the quarterfinals of the middleweight category (75-kg), thus becoming the sixth boxer to make it to the last eight stage. Vikas, who is bandied about as a big medal hope having won the gold in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games although in a different weight category (60-kg). The Bhiwani southpaw had boxed at the 2012 London Olympics in the 69-kg category and is now taking part in the 75-kg category replacing injured Vijender Singh.
Vikas came out with all guns blazing attracting the positive attention of all the three judges landing his potent left punches to unsettle his Kazakhstan opponent, who wasn’t quite able to get on top of the Indian. The 2011 World Championship bronze medallist grew in confidence as the bout wore on even as the Kazakhstan boxer needed a miracle to halt Vikas from winning going into the final round as the Indian had dominated the first two rounds. He now plays Uzbekistan’s Normatov Hurshidbek in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Besides Vikas, Indian men’s boxing fortunes rest on Laishram Devendro Singh (light weight category) and Shiva Thapa (bantamweight) in the men’s quarterfinals, while the troika of MC Mary Kom (flyweight), L Sarita Devi (lightweight) and Pooja Rani (middleweight) have entered the women’s quarterfinals.Satish Kumar is the lone boxer who is yet to launch his campaign – he will fight in the super heavyweight category (+91-kg) on Tuesday having got a bye into the quarterfinals.
