Suranjoy wins gold at President`s Cup

Baku: Asian champion Suranjoy Singh became the first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal at the inter-continental President`s Cup after out-punching Frenchman Nordine Oubaali 8-1 in the fly weight (51kg) finals.

The 22-year-old Manipuri`s triumph also fetched him a USD 3,000 cash prize at the prestigious season-ending event, where confederations from Asia, America, Africa, Europe and Oceania were pitted against each other. Representing Asia One, Suranjoy didn`t allow his rival from the Europe Two team to land a single scoring punch in the first two rounds.Relying on his trademark left straights and cross punches, the reigning national champion opened up a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening round. Suranjoy scored another four points in the next three minutes to be 7-0 ahead. The final round ended 1-1 but the huge lead from the previous two rounds was enough for the Indian to emerge triumphant."Nordine is a good boxer and fights very aggressively but I pushed him on the backfoot in the very first round. I had never fought against him before but it was not that difficult to read his game once I entered the ring," an elated Suranjoy told reporters. "I wanted to win a gold and I have done that. I will be getting some prize money for this but that was always a secondary thing for me," he added. PTI