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On what turned out to be a gloomy day for the Indian contingent, the last hopes of the boxing team extinguished as the seasoned campaigner, MC Mary Kom and the free spirited rookie, Laishram Devendro Singh got knocked out of the London Olympics. The Manipuri duo were the last two Indian pugilists in the fray and with their departure, the eight member strong boxing team, which promised so much, could manage just one bronze medal for their efforts.
The twenty year old Devendro Singh was up against the Beijing Olympics bronze medalist, Paddy Barnes in the quarterfinals of the Men’s fly weight (49kg) category, and a win here would have guaranteed him a podium finish. But the aggressive Indian was undone by the experienced and tactically superior Irishman, who won the bout 23-18.
Barnes got off to a good start. He showed great skills to tackle the early onslaught from Devendro and produced a brilliant counter-attack to take the first round 7-5.
In the second round, Barnes proved to be even more effective. He not only looked to defend and move clear of Devendro’s fists but also scored vital points at every opportunity. Devendro got a warning too, for head butting his opponent and was docked two point. The round eventually ended 10-5 in Barnes’ favor.
Staring at a massive deficit of 7 points, Devendro was in no mood to cave in and he came out swinging. The Manipuri boxer showcased his now trademark quick punches and moved around the ring brilliantly. There were more cheers for the Indian as Barnes received a warning and was docked two points for holding off his opponent. Devendro ended on a high and took the third round 8-6 but Barnes had done enough to ensure that he will end up with successive Olympics podium finishes.
Earlier in the day, Mary Kom bowed out of the 2012 Olympics after losing her semi final bout against home girl, Nicola Adams in the women’s 51 kg category. Mary, who was already assured of atleast a bronze, failed to improve the color of her medal as she failed to match Nicola’s’ powers and lost by a 6-11 verdict.
Nicola, who had defeated Mary Kom in the AIBA World Championship earlier this year, took control of the fight from the word go and dominated each of the four rounds. The five time World Champion tried to make a comeback in the last two rounds but the quick footed Briton made good use of her height and reach and improved her lead with each passing round.
It was a disappointing day for Mary who, otherwise had a superb run and became just the third Indian women to win an Olympics medal after Karnam Malleswari and Saina Nehwal.
Overall, the Indians put up a valiant show at the 2012 London games but the results were underwhelming as a lot was expected of the 7 men and 1 woman selected to represent India in the ring. Even though there were many glaring errors by the judges, a thorough postmortem will reveal a few technical glitches in the pugilists’ games as well. Its time to go back to the drawing boards and start preparing for future events with an eye on Rio.
