Vijender Singh’s quest for a gold medal ended in heartbreak as he went down to Uzbekistan’s Abbos Atoev in the middle weight semifinals, bringing down the curtains on India’s campaign by settling for a bronze at the World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy.
The bronze with which he had to be content with after the 3-7 loss to Atoev late on Friday night was Vijender’s third successive this year.
But even in defeat, the Olympic bronze medallist scripted history by ending India’s medal drought in the elite event.
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“Obviously I am a bit disappointed but I am glad that I ended India’s medal jinx at this prestigious event,” the world number two, who was given the top seeding in Milan, said after the bout.
The 23-year-old went into the bout as favourite, considering that he had beaten Atoev, a former light heavy weight champion, just a couple of months ago at the Asian Championships in China.
Like his previous bouts, Vijender started off cautiously to take a slender 1-0 lead after the first three minutes but things went haywire from there on as Atoev staged an aggressive comeback.
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