OCA reinstates Sarita’s bronze
Incheon: Putting an end to the status of the bronze medal won by Indian woman boxer L Sarita Devi, the Olympic Council of Asia on Thursday re-instated her medal in the 60kg category after a hearing with the India’s Asian Games contingent officials here on Thursday. “I told them it had happened in an emotional moment. The OCA has reinstated Sarita Devi as the bronze medal winner. The medal will come to us tomorrow morning,” contingent’s chef de mission Adille Sumariwalla told, after attending the OCA working group hearing on Thursday.. Light weight woman boxer Sarita, who was robbed off a shot at gold due to poor ring-side judging despite totally dominating her semifinal bout on Sept 30 against her S Korean opponent Jina Park, did not allow the medal to be hung around her neck at the medal ceremony. After accepting it by hand, she hung it around the neck of silver medallist Park which was left behind by the Korean too. Sumariwalla also said that he had asked for a review of the bout by an independent panel appointed by OCA. The threat of a ban on the boxer by the world governing body AIBA persists and Sumariwalla has said his priority now is to prevent this from happening. (PTI)
