Limassol, Cyprus: The penultimate round of the Invitation FXTM International Limassol Boxing Cup being held at Limassol, Cyprus and the Indian contingent seemed unstoppable in their bid to bag the overall title on Saturday (18 May 2013) with seven Indian boxers making it to the finals. A strong display in the semi-finals witnessed the Indian boxers deliver a dominating performance against strong boxing nations like Algeria, Germany and Spain.
Olympians Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Dinesh Kumar (91kg) along with 2012 senior national gold medallists Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and Sukhdeep Singh made it to the finals in their respective weight division. 2008 Youth Olympics bronze medal winner V Durga Rao (56kg), reigning national champion Madal Lal (52kg) and silver medallist Parveen Kumar (+91kg) also made a place in the title round.
2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manoj had an easy outing against Diaa Twafeek Mohamed of Egypt. The Egyptian boxer had no answer to the aggressive play of the 26 year old Indian. Leading from start to finish Kumar went on to take his place in the finals of the light welter weight with a margin of 12 points (16-4). He now boxes Abdelkader Chadi of Algeria for the gold.
In the heavy weight division 2009 Asian Championship bronze medallist Dinesh beat
Olympian and WSB boxer Chouaib Bouloudinat from Algeria in what was a very well contested bout. Chouaib, winner of the 2011 All-Africa Games proved to be a tough opponent for Dinesh. But the 24 year old put up a solid defence and countered well with his left straight punches and right hooks. He kept nicking crucial points, not allowing his opponent much space. The Algerian boxer tried hard to take the lead in the final round, but a power full left upper cut and right long hook helped Dinesh maintain the advantage. He made his place in the finals by virtue of a victory on points 18-17. The Indian boxer put a sterling performance to win the bout and got a standing ovation from the audience for his efforts in the ring. He now takes on takes on Fotios Aratoglou from Hungary.
In the welter weight division Mandeep, up against Pablos Poulikos of Greece, made a stunning recovery after being down 3 points at the end of the second round. The 20 year old came back strongly in the third round with his sharp powerful punches and well executed counter attacks to take the game away from the Greek boxer. Jangra won on point 14-13, and will now lock horns with Spanish boxer Victor Veda Blanco for the yellow metal.
Sukhdeep also gave good performance in his maiden appearance in the International circuit. He defeated Najd Salloum from Lebanon on points 21-8. In the finals he squares off against local lad Kyriakos Spanos.
Making their maiden international senior appearance Anil Kumar (60kg) and Jagroop Singh (81kg) also gave a very good account of their boxing skills but ended up on the losing side of their semi-final bouts. Kumar, up against Quadasi Mohamed Amin of Algeria – an Olympic quarter-finalist – exchanged a lot of blows during the course of the nine minutes. A hard right by Anil to the Algerian’s face broke his nose, but the Indian lost out on points in the end, 12-14.
Jagroop went up against Kaalaour Hicham also of Algeria. The bout was equally matched in the first two rounds but the experience of Algerian boxer favoured him in the last round and he won the bout on points. Anil and Jagroop will return with a bronze medal performance for the event. L Devendro Singh also had to be content with a bronze medal performance after losing out in the semi-finals.