The fast-rising Ankush Dahiya (60kg) clinched a gold medal, while the experienced L. Devendro Singh (52kg) won a silver medal on the final day of the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia.
The 19-year-old Ankush, who is a former Asian youth silver-medallist, defeated Korean Man Choe Chol in a split verdict, while Devendro lost to Indonesia’s Aldoms Suguro, again, in a split decision.
India thus signed off with a gold, a silver and three bronze medals from the tournament. K. Shyam Kumar (49kg), Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) and Priyanka Chaudhary (60kg) — lost their respective semifinal bouts to settle for bronze medals on Saturday.
Devendro, a Commonwealth Games silver-medallist, was the first to step inside the ring for India on Sunday and was his usual aggressive self against Suguro.
The diminutive Manipuri, who is recovering from a few niggles, exhausted his rival, not letting the intensity slip even once.
Despite Suguro’s defence, Devendro did well to connect the blows.
However, much to the Indian camp’s disappointment, Devendro’s overall dominance did not find favour with the judges who ruled 3-2 in Suguro’s favour.
But the Indian camp had a chance to celebrate when Ankush edged past Man Choe Chol.
The youngster put his height to advantage and landed some lusty blows, which swung the contest in his favour. This is Ankush’s maiden international medal at the senior level.
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