Sumit, Nikhat claim gold at Belgrade International Boxing

Indian pugilists Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Nikhat Zareen (51kg) struck gold to power India to a 13-medal haul at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament in Serbia.

Published : Apr 29, 2018 11:47 IST , New Delhi

The Indian men's department claimed two gold, three silver and a bronze medal at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament.
The Indian men's department claimed two gold, three silver and a bronze medal at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament.
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The Indian men's department claimed two gold, three silver and a bronze medal at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament.

Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Nikhat Zareen (51kg) struck gold on Saturday to round off an impressive campaign as India claimed three gold, five silver and five bronze medals at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament in Serbia.

Continuing his fine comeback from a wrist injury, Sumit, an Asian silver-medallist, defeated Ecuador’s Castillo Torres in a unanimous 5-0 verdict to claim the top honours on Saturday night.

“He has been my rock through everything, I dedicate this medal to my bapu (father). All the hard work I had put in for the Commonwealth Games came in handy here after I missed out on that. My hand feels completely fine now,” Sumit, who missed a trip to Gold Coast after going down in the trial, told PTI from Belgrade.

“This performance is a huge morale-booster for me and I am hoping to build on it in the coming months. The boxer from Ecuador I faced in the final was a tough opponent, very aggressive but I didn’t allow him to connect,” he added.

READ: Nikhat happy to be back in the ring

Former junior world champion Nikhat, also returning to action after recovering from a shoulder injury, notched up a 5-0 win over Greece’s Koutsoeorgopoulou Aikaterini to pick up a morale-boosting gold.

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This was Nikhat's first major international tournament triumph since her return from injury.
 

Himanshu Sharma (49kg) also claimed a gold after defeating Algeria’s Mohammed Touareg 5-0 in his final bout.

Signing off with silver medals among women were Jamuna Boro (54kg) and Ralte Lalfakmawii (+81kg). Jamuna lost to local favourite Andjela Brankovic 1-4, while Lalfakmawii went down 2-3 to Turkey’s Demir Sennur.

In the men’s draw, Laldinmawia (52kg), Varinder Singh (56kg) and Pawan Kumar (69kg) picked up silver medals. Laldinmawia was beaten 0-5 by Korea’s Kim Inkyn, Varinder lost 2-3 to Brazillian Arilson Goncalves. Pawan was also defeated in a split verdict, going down 1-4 to Croatia’s Petar Cetinic. Earlier, Narender (+91kg) had fetched a bronze in the men’s competition.

In the women’s competition, Rajesh Narwal (48kg), Priyanka Thakur (60kg), Rumi Gogoi (75kg) and Nirmala Rawat (81kg) had settled for bronze medals.

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