MC Mary Kom claimed gold but the Indian men’s juggernaut was denied a complete sweep by traditional powerhouses Cuba and Uzbekistan on an exciting final day of the India Open boxing tournament on Thursday.
Mary Kom won against Filipino Josie Gabuco 4-1 en route to her gold in the 48kg class among women. Pwilao Basumatary (64kg) was the first among the women to fetch gold. The former world and Asian bronze medallist claimed a 3-2 win over Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee.
The Assam boxer is a regular in the national camp and had claimed a gold medal at the 2015 Nation’s Cup in Serbia.
Another Assam boxer, Lovlina Borgohain claimed the welterweight (69kg) gold among women, getting the better of compatriot Pooja. L Sarita Devi (60kg) settled for a silver medal after losing to Finland’s Olympic bronze-medalist Mira Potkenon.
Mixed day at the office for the men
In the men’s draw, Sanjeet (91kg) picked up India’s first gold of the day when he upstaged Uzbekistan’s Sanjar Tursunov. The Indian matched Tursunov punch for punch in an engrossing contest before getting a split 3-2 verdict in his favour.
National champion Manish Kaushik (60kg), who stunned world and Asian medalist Shiva Thapa yesterday, didn’t have to step inside the ring to collect his gold. Manish was given a walkover by his Mongolian rival Battumur Misheelt, who pulled out owing to a cut sustained on his forehead during his semi-final bout.
Asian Games bronze-medallist Satish Kumar (+91kg), however, settled for a silver, outwitted by Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov in a split 4-1 decision. Dinesh Dagar took the welterweight (69kg) silver after going down to Uzbekistan’s Bobo-Usmon Baturov.
Later, Devanshu Jaiswal (81kg) was up against Cuba’s David Gutierrez. The Cuban connected enough with his jabs to score a split 4-1 victory and win gold. Former world silver medallist Saweety Boora (75kg) also had to be content with a second-place finish against Cameroon’s Essaine Clotilde.