Boxers Sumit, Nikhat bag gold in Belgrade

Himanshu Sharma (49kg), who defeated Algeria’s Mohammed Touareg 5-0 in his final bout, was the third top spot finisher as India ended the tournament with three gold, five silver and five bronze medals in all. 

Continuing his fine comeback from a wrist injury, Sumit, an Asian silver-medalist, defeated Ecuador’s Castillo Torres in a unanimous 5-0 verdict to claim the yellow metal. The 24-year-old later dedicated the triumph to his father Surender Sangwan. 

“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,” said Sumit, who missed a trip to Gold Coast after going down in the trial.

“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. 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.

“I am very satisfied with how I performed in this tournament. My shoulder is a bit stiff right now so it was by no means an easy campaign. The boxers from Russia and Serbia I fought were very muscular and physically, it was draining,” Nikhat said. “My opponent in the semi-final Nina Radovanovic is a former professional boxer and she was very tough to fight. That bout took a lot out of me and my shoulder would need a bit of caring for once I am back,” she added. 

Surprisingly, the contingent did not have a single physio travelling with it for the tournament to take care of these niggles. Signing off with silver medals among women were Jamuna Boro (54kg) and Ralte Lalfakmawii (+81kg). While Jamuna lost to local favourite Andjela Brankovic 1-4, Lalfakmawii went down 2-3 to Turkey’s Demir Sennur.