Kavinder Singh Bisht (56kg) wins gold while Shiva Thapa (60kg) and three others claimed silver medals to end a fine Indian campaign at the 38th GeeBee Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland on Sunday.
Signing off with silver medals were three-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (60kg), rookie Govind Sahani (49kg), Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) and Dinesh Dagar (69kg).
In a rare all-Indian final, Bisht was up against Commonwealth Games bronze-medallist Hussamuddin in the 56kg summit clash. Both the boxers are from the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) and the familiarity with each others’ techniques was apparent in the intense bout.
Finland performance ◀️
India?? finished their campaign in Helsinki ??with 1⃣ Gold 4⃣Silvers and 3⃣ Bronze medals. Way to go boys. Kudos to the coaching staff for their efforts behind the scene. Keep the performances coming. ??#PunchMeinHaiDum #boxing pic.twitter.com/mv4w61tbKc
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 11, 2019
But it proved to be Bisht’s day and the Navyman overcame a cut sustained above his right eye in the final round to emerge triumphant against his Army rival.
The boxer from Uttarakhand is a world championship quarterfinalist in the flyweight category and this was his maiden international gold after making the jump to bantamweight.
Congratulations #KavinderSinghBisht for a shining Gold?at Helsinki. A fabulous win by 5-0 in the finals.
Kudos to you!??#PunchMeinHaiDum #boxing? pic.twitter.com/c461Xyn8ir— Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) March 11, 2019
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How other boxers performed
Congratulations to Rookie Indian??boxer #GovindKumarSahani on winning a silver medal ? in his first international event in Helsinki.
Keep up the spirit!???️#PunchMeinHaiDum ? pic.twitter.com/1658KLkxpP— Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) March 11, 2019
Sahani started off strongly against Thailand’s Thitisan Panmod in his summit showdown, clinching the opening round unanimously. However, Panmod found favour with a majority of the judges in the next two rounds and the messy bout ended 3-2 in the flamboyant Thai boxer’s name.
Silver for @shivathapa
Shiva Thapa went down on points 1-4 to local favourite Arslan Khataev as he ended his campaign at the 38th @GeeBeeBoxing in Helsinki, Finland. ?#PunchMeinHaiDum #boxing pic.twitter.com/E61Wj94dD6
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 10, 2019
Thapa (60kg), a three-time Asian medallist besides being a former bronze-winner at the world championships, lost 1-4 to local favourite Arslan Khataev. In an intense battle, Thapa claimed the final round honours but the judges ruled the first two rounds in favour of Khataev.
Dagar vs McCormack
#DineshDagar who faced 2-time European silver-medallist Pat McCormack in the summit clash settled for a?.The ?? entered the bout with a heavily swollen left eye due to an injury sustained in the SF and had to stop the contest a few seconds into the R3.Well fought Dinesh! #boxing pic.twitter.com/TdCxwb9qo1
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 10, 2019
Dagar, a silver-medallist from last year’s India Open, was up against Commonwealth Games gold-medallist England Pat McCormack in the finals. The Indian entered the bout with a heavily swollen left eye due to an injury sustained in the semifinals.
McCormack, also a two-time European silver-medallist, was expectedly the more aggressive of the two boxers. But to Dagar’s credit, he fought hard and withstood three eight counts before the referee ended the contest a few seconds into the third round.
Ending with bronze medals after semifinal losses were Sumit Sangwan (91kg), former youth world champion Sachin Siwach (52kg) and Naveen Kumar (+91kg).
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