New Delhi: Already through to the Olympics, Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) on Friday had to be content with bronze medals in the International Boxing Association’s world qualifying tournament at Baku in Azerbaijan.
While Vikas was declared medically unfit and conceded his bout against Turkmenistan’s Achilov Arslanbek, Manoj lost 0-3 to reigning European champion Pat McCormack of Britain.
In further disappointment India, Sumit Sangwan’s (81kg) hopes of qualifying also ended on Friday. Sumit, who lost to top seed Petr Khamukov of Russia in the quarter-final on Thursday night, would have remained in contention had his opponent gone on to win the gold medal. But the Russian chose to give a walkover in the semi-final, dashing Sumit’s hopes.
Vikas sustained a cut last night during his quarter-final contest against Korea’s Lee Dongyun. The Indian triumphed 3-0 to make the semi-final and assure himself of an Olympic quota berth.
However, the injury he sustained required stitches on his forehead, which forced him out of his semi-final clash. “Vikas Krishan can’t box today as he was declared medically unfit by the official doctors of the competition in the morning weigh in and medical examination because of stitches above his eyes,” an official of the Indian team said.
Later in the day, Commonwealth Games silver medallist L. Devendro Singh (49kg), who will have to beat Spaniard Carmona Heredia Samuel in the semi-final to be assured of a berth in the Olympics as only two quota places are up for grabs in his weight category.
So far, three Indian boxers have qualified for the Olympic Games. Apart from Vikas and Manoj, Shiva Thapa (56kg) has also made the cut, booking his berth in the Asian Qualifiers in March.
