India bagged three gold medals on the final day of the boxing competitions of the Commonwealth Games here on Wednesday. With three golds and four bronzes, India finished as the topmost team in boxing.
All three Indians in the fray on Wednesday — Suranjoy Singh (52 kgs), Manoj Kumar (64 kgs) and Paramjeet Samota (plus-91 kgs) — won their final bouts.
Earlier, Amandeep Singh (49 kgs), Jai Bhagwan (60 kgs), Dilbag Singh (69 kgs) and Vijender Singh (75 kgs) had already won bronze medals by entering the semifinals in their respective weights.
One of the remarkable victories seen on Wednesday was Manoj Kumar's easy 11-2 win over England's Bradley Saunders in the 64 kg category.
Clever punching
As is well known the English team as been very well drilled and Saunders was one of their best. However Manoj boxed cleverly to get the better of the higher rated Saunders, who failed to come up with the right strategy to counter the Indian.
In the first round, Saunders went into the offensive early and drew first blood with a well timed left.
But within seconds Manoj equalised and from there it was Manoj all the way. His boxing was not pleasing to watch nor was the punching very scientific but he managed to pile up points steadily.
In the first round Manoj led 4-1 and by the end of the second had increased the lead to 8-1. In the third and final round Saunders was unable to attack vigorously as Manoj picked up three more points to win 11-2.
Too good
In the plus 91 kg final, India's Paramjeet Samota was too good for his opponent Abdul Haqq Tariq of Trinidad.
The Indian boxer led 2-0 in the first round and 5-0 in the second round before winning 5-1.
The 52 kg final saw a walk over as Kenya's Benson Njangiru was injured. So Suranjoy Singh, the hot favourite, won the gold without throwing a single punch.
Earlier, 30 year old Manju Waniarachi gave Sri Lanka a boxing gold in the Commonwealth Games after a gap of 72 years when he defeated Sean McGoldrick of Wales in the 56 kg final.
The boxers were tied 7 all at the end of three rounds but in the count-back Manju Waniarachi was declared winner by 16-14.
