LONDON, July 30:
Young pugilist Sumit Sangwan put up a heroic performance against Brazil’s Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino in the 81-kg category before losing his bout 14-15 in what looked to be a controversial decision in favour of the Brazilian.
The decision not only enraged the Indian contingent and sports minister Ajay Maken but also had them lodging an official protest, which the Minister confirmed through a tweet.
Sangwan, one of the bright youngsters on the Indian boxing scene, had an excellent third and final round, where he seemed to land way more punches than what he was given credit for. He came into the final round trailing by two points following the first two rounds going 5-4 and 5-4 in the favour of the seeded Brazilian.
It was an evenly poised bout but the Indian did not seem to find favour with the referee, Greek Nikolaos Poutachadis.
Though Sangwan matched the Brazilian in the first two rounds, it was in the third round that he went really opened out with a flurry of punches and put Falcao under pressure.
It was blow for the Indians, who have already seen Shiva Thapa lose in 56 kg bantamweight class. However, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Vijender Singh and Jai Bhagwan have already progressed to the round of 16 and Vikas Krishan has got a bye into the pre-quarter finals. (PTI)
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