Sofia, Feb 26: Indian boxers Anamika (50kg) and Anupama (81kg) signed off with silver medals after going down in their respective final round bouts at the Strandja Memorial Tournament here on Sunday.
Anamika, the reigning national champion, lost by a 1-4 split verdict against China’s Hu Meiyi in the lightweight final.
Anupama, on the other hand, was beaten by a technically superior Australian Emma Sue Greentree by a 0-5 unanimous verdict.
Anamika began aggressively but Meiyi defended well, moving around the ring to take the first round by an unanimous verdict.
The two boxers resorted to a lot of body-clinching in the second round as Anamika started to find her footing.
In the final three minutes, Anamika was the better boxer, landing a flurry of combination punches with four out of the five judges ruling in her favour but it was a little too late.
In the light heavyweight final, Greentree did not let Anupama settle down, dominating from the beginning.
The Indian looked tentative and played with an open guard and Greentree took advantage of that as she punched from a distance, using her long reach to good effect. The gulf between the two boxers was evident and it was no brainer what the verdict would be.
Former Indian boxing high-performance director Santiago Nieva, who is the current Australian national boxing team head coach, was seen celebrating Greentree’s win on the sidelines.
Later in the day, Govind Kumar Sahani (48kg), the lone Indian male boxer to qualify for the final, will go head-to-head against Shodiyorjon Melikuziev of Uzbekistan in the final. (PTI)
