New Delhi: World number one Vijender Singh
(75kg) fought through a bleeding nose to clinch his first
international gold medal in two years as Indian pugilists made
a clean sweep in the finals to win the overall team title at
the fifth Commonwealth Boxing Championships here today.
With Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), South Asian
Games gold medallist Amandeep Singh (49kg), Asian silver
medallist Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg) also
triumphing in the finals, it turned out to be an all-win day
for the hosts in front of a houseful crowd.
The gold rush started early for the Indians when Olympian
Dinesh Kumar (81kg) got a walkover against Scot Callum
Johnson, who was declared medically unfit due to a right wrist
injury this morning.
In the last bout of the day, Olympic and World
Championship bronze medallist Vijender thrashed England`s
Frank Buglioni 13-3 despite a bloodied nose.
"I was scared that the bout may be stopped and I would be
declared medically unfit. Bleeding was just not stopping. I
was constantly looking at the judges to see what they might
do," said the 24-year-old Haryana boxer, who was adjudged the
best boxer of the tournament.
"A gold medal after two years (the last being at the
Chemistry Cup in Germany in 2008) is obviously very
satisfying," added the strapping six-footer, who started the
year with a silver in an invitational tourney in China in
January.
Sharp and swift with his movement, Vijender out-witted
his rival, who repeatedly tried to hit him on the injured
nose. Scoring mostly through straight right punches and left
hooks, the Indian was 3-1 up in the opening round and despite
being tentative after injuring his nose, Vijender remained
ruthless enough to land some telling jabs on his opponent.
Buglioni ran out of steam in the final three minutes and
Vijender even dared him with an open guard after taking
complete control of the bout.
"Vijender is very quick on his feet and that helped him
remain in control. As far as the bleeding goes, I would say,
god protected him today because the blood was just not
stopping despite applying ice," said national coach Gurbax
Singh Sandhu.
Earlier, the day started perfectly for the Indians when
Samota eked out a hard-fought 7-3 triumph over New Zealand`s
Joseph Parker.
Samota trailed 0-1 in the opening round but came back
strongly with a flurry of straight punches to unsettle his
rival. The two boxers were tied 3-3 in the second round but
the Indian nosed ahead in the final round as Parker began to
tire out.
"I tried to settle down in the first round and though I
was trailing, I was confident of coming back and the massive
crowd support also helped me. He began to look tired after the
second round and that`s when I attacked him the most," said
Samota, for whom it was a career-best performance.
Next man in was Amandeep and though he faced an
aggressive opponent in Kenya`s Peter Mungai, the Punjab boxer
kept his cool to notch up a 3-0 triumph.
"It wasn`t as tough as I expected and I am happy about
that. I got just three points but then my rival didn`t get
any," quipped the 23-year-old.
For Suranjoy, it was literally a stroll in the park as he
out-classed his Mauritian rival Oliver Lavigi in just 25
seconds to get the gold medal. The diminutive Manipuri was up
1-0 but didn`t know which punch of his left his opponent in no
condition to fight.
"I just hit three punches and no clue which one of them
got him," said the Asian Championship and President`s Cup gold
medallist.
In contrast, Jai had to toil hard and the Haryana-lad
even ended up with a cut below his right eye after the 6-2 win
over Bahamian Valention Knowles.
Knowles was the first to score in the most
edge-of-the-seat contest of the day and it was only in the
second round that Jai began taking control with a slender 3-2
lead.
The Indian went all out in the final round, forcing
Knowles on the defensive.
"It was difficult to control punches as my rival was
moving so much in the ring. But my fitness levels helped me,"
he said.
Jai dedicated his triumph to good friend and his
room-partner Vijender for supporting him in his hour of
crisis.
"Vijender supported me through an injury crisis in 2008
and motivated me to continue. So, this win is for him," Jai
said.
While India clinched the team title, defending champion
England finished runners-up. India had previously won the team
title in 2005 with four gold and three silver medals in
Glasgow. In 2007, Indians had fetched a gold, two silver and
three bronze medals to finish runners-up in Liverpool.
This time, the hosts had picked a 10-member team for the
competition.
Of them, Akhil Kumar (56kg), Balwinder Beniwal (64kg),
Dilbagh Singh (69kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) had crashed out
by the quarterfinal stage.
PTI