Guiyang: The Indian challenge at the 3rd China Open Boxing Tournament in Guiyang came to an end with super heavy weight boxer Manjeet Singh losing out in the title round of the tournament on Friday (21 June 2013). The 21-year-old making his international debut, did well to go all the way to the finals of the China Open, in the end though he came up short in the ultimate hurdle. But the burly All India Police boxer put up a sterling show in what was a fight to the finish.
Manjeet, who beat Wang Zhi Bao from China in the semis, was up against another local lad Akepeer Yusuf of the China B team in the fight for the yellow metal. Yusuf made an aggressive start making full use of his long reaching arms. But Singh, a two time Youth National Championship bronze medallist, displayed some good ring movement and in-fighting to land a few telling blows on Yusuf in the second round. However in the final round the Chinese boxer was more dominant with his precise attacks, which kept the Indian on the back foot. Manjeet lost on a split decision in the end.
The Indian men’s team returns from the event with one silver medal and three bronze medals –Sunil Kumar (52kg), Ajay Kumar (56kg) and Jaideep (75kg) had to be content with a bronze medal performance after losing out in the round of four. The tournament has been a good exposure for the young Indian team, especially for the likes of Manjeet, Ajay and Jaideep, who were all making their international debut in Guiyang.