India’s image took a beating at the Asian Championship. The reigning world champion, still depending on its ageing boxers, had no chance against the rampaging Chinese and North Koreans. S. Sabanayakan reports.
India, the reigning world champion in women’s boxing, suffered a major setback as it finished third, behind China and North Korea, in the fourth Asian Championship, conducted at the Sarusajai Sports Complex in Guwahati recently. India, which claimed seven gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the previous Asian Championship in Chinese Taipei in 2005 to emerge the top nation in the continent, managed to win just three golds, apart from six silvers and a bronze thi s time. China took the overall title by winning six gold, two silver and two bronze medals. North Korea finished second with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
India’s capitulation in a matter of two years since winning the New Delhi Worlds was quite shocking. True, it did not have boxers such as Jenny Lalremliani (63kg), Aswathimol Chenthitail (70kg), Karamjeet Kaur (75kg) and Jyotsana (86kg), who had won the gold in the previous meet. But their replacements, S. Ibomcha Devi, Seema Devi Yadav, Renu Gora and Kavita Chahal were pathetic!
Even M. C. Mary Kom, a three-time World and two-time Asian champion, was nowhere near her best having been away from the ring for two years. She returned to defend her pin weight (46kg) title after giving birth to twins, but two months of training was just not sufficient to regain her full fitness. She lost to North Korea’s Ok Jong whom she had collared in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championship.
In hindsight, the coaches seemed to have erred in fielding Mary. After seeing her struggle in the first bout, some of the boxing officials felt that Mary should have been withdrawn from the tournament on medical grounds. This could have saved Mary as well as India’s reputation.
Mary, however, was unfazed by the defeat. “Winning and losing is part of the game. I will come back with greater resolve by the time the next World Championship comes around in November this year,” she said.
India’s three gold medals came from Kalpana Choudhary (light-fly, 48kg), Laishram Sarita Devi (light-bantam, 52kg) and Nagisetty Usha (feather, 57kg). Both Kalpana and Usha won their maiden Asian gold medals. Sarita added her first light-bantam (52kg) gold to the two bantam (54kg) titles she had won in the Asian Championship earlier. The 26-year-old police inspector from Manipur is the world champion in the 52kg category.
For both Kalpana and Usha it was a new beginning. On way to winning the gold, the two boxers ousted fancied opponents in the semifinals. Kalpana defeated defending champion Ri Jong Hyang of North Korea while Usha beat the two-time Asian champion and current World champion Yun Kum Ju of North Korea. Kalpana was also adjudged the ‘best boxer of the tournament’.
Usha, who works for the Railways in Visakhapatnam, was absolutely thrilled to win the gold. “It is like a dream come true for me,” she gushed. “The victory is a sweet revenge for the loss I suffered to Yun in the 2006 World Championship final. I am now looking forward to the World meet later this year,” she said.
China, which did not participate in the last Asian Championship, fielded 11 boxers and took home 10 medals, including six golds. For a country that took to boxing later than India did, this was indeed a commendable performance. China swept all the four weight categories from light-middle upward.
India’s poor performance in the Asian Championship has to be debated and the responsibility fixed. If the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) can bask in the glory of Vijender Singh’s Olympic medal winning performance, it also has to explain the failure of the woman boxers.
Interestingly, the 13-member Indian contingent had a staggering eight-member coaching team led by chief coach Anoop Kumar. Yet, the team failed to live up to expectations.
Those who follow women’s boxing in the country were of the view that the lack of a junior programme meant India had to carry on with the old guard even today. Besides, not many states were keen to support women’s boxing barring Manipur, Kerala, Assam and Haryana to name a few.
Col. P. K. Muralidharan Raja, secretary general of the IBF, however, presented a different picture. “This is a transition period for women’s boxing in India. The IBF has a developed a good junior programme and a lot of girls are ready to replace the ageing seniors. From now on, we will strictly go by performance rather than reputation,” he explained.
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