SHILLONG: Indian men made a clean sweep of all seven gold medals on offer in boxing at the 12th South Asian Games at NEHU, SAI Special Area Games here on Monday.
Reigning Asian champion Shiva Thapa added another feather to his cap beating Sri Lanka’s Ruwan Thilina to the gold medal in the bantam weight category. L Devendro Singh had a stiff resistance from Pakistan’s Mohib Ulla but eventually emerged victorious 2-1 in the light fly (46-49 kg) category.
The other gold medalists of the day were Madan Lal, who beat Pakistan’s Syed Md Asif 3-0 in the fly (52 kg) category, Dheeraj, who overcame Pakistan’s Ahmed Ali in the light (60 kg) category, Manoj Kumar, who got the better of Sri Lanka’s D Suparamadu 3-0 in the light welter category, Mandeep Jangra with a win over Afghanistan’s Rahemi Alla Dad in the welter (69 kg) category and Vikas Krishan (75 kg), who beat Pakistan’s Ahmed Tanveer in a unanimous 3-0 decision.
Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Devendro Singh started the medal hunt for India beating Pakistan’s Mohib Ulla in a 2-1 split decision. The Pakistan rival, with his wild swings, did manage to get Devendro, who wanted to avoid any injury, in the back foot. A technically superior Devendro, however, eventually sealed gold without much fuss.
Shiva Thapa, meanwhile, faced an aggressive Lankan opponent Ruwan Thilina who looked to take the attack to the Indian.
Shiva made a flawless start with a left jab and a straight punch setting the tempo for the bout. The Olympian was, however, pushed to the defensive in the second round by his opponent looking to headbutt the Indian. A right uppercut and a flurry of punches pushed the Lankan rival back as Thapa sailed to the gold with a 3-0 unanimous decision. It was a good challenge said Thapa who was elated at winning the gold at the SAG which was “by no means easy.”
Meanwhile, Dheeraj had a tough time taming Pakistan’s Ahmed Ali in the final of the light weight category.
Ali looked quicker of the two in round 1 and used his height to the advantage. It was an intense round 2 which saw both boxers exchange a flurry of punches besides a sharp right jab by Ali buoyed the Pakistan contingent on the stands. Dheeraj, however, took control in round 3. The Indian eventually won by a split decision of 2-1.
Up against the mighty Afghan Rahemi Alla Dad, Mandeep Jangra had to be on the defensive with the rival swinging blows all along. An upper cut and a right hook in round 2 asserted Mandeep’s dominance of the bout. However, the Afghan was not ready to yield and retaliated with a left jab. In what was a visibly close contest, Rahemi went down 0-3 by unanimous decision.
Afghan accusation
However, according to reports Afghanistan did not take the decision kindly and alleged that the referees “favoured” home favourite Jangra. Meanwhile, a half fit Vikas Krishan, who has been suffering from a light fever for the last three days, made light work of Pakistan’s Ahmed Tanveer to sign off things in style for India.
With the men living up to their expectations the onus would now be on the women to get India a perfect 10 on Tuesday. MC Mary Kom, Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani have made it to the finals. (Related report on P-11)
