Former Commonwealth champion Sunil Kumar fought hard but had to settle for silver after losing to Olympic champion Zou Shiming in the finals of the AIBA 3 Star China Cup in Guiyang City on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Haryana boxer was neck and neck with his Chinese rival before losing the plot in the final three minutes to go down 2-4.
The Indian took his fancied rival by surprise and was tied 1-1 after the first three minutes. Sunil trailed by just a point after the second round that ended 3-2 in favour of the local star, who is also a two-time world champion.
The third round made all the difference as Sunil failed to land a scoring punch while his opponent managed to put one across to wrap up the bout 4-2.
Sunil, therefore, had to be content with a silver medal and $2,000 in prize money.
Four other Indians in the fray had lost in the semifinals on Friday to settle for bronze medals and a cash prize 41,000 each.
South Asian Games gold medallist Chhote Lal Yadav (57kg), Olympian Diwakar Prasad (60kg), Kuldeep Singh (75kg) and Jasveer Singh (81kg) were India’s bronze medallists in the tournament featuring 102 boxers from 19 countries.
