NEW DELHI: World youth champion Sachin Siwach made a winning debut but India ended up on the losing side, going down 1-4 to Russia in their second World Series of Boxing (WSB) clash in Kazan.
The loss to Russia’s Patriot Boxing Team was the Indian Tigers’ second successive in WSB after a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Astana Arlans in the team’s opening clash.
The 19-year-old Sachin, competing in his maiden WSB bout, gave India a fine start last night as he defeated Russian debutant Dorzho Radnaev with a terrific come-from-behind performance in the light flyweight (49kg) category.
Sachin rallied after losing the first two rounds to stun the local favourite in a split 2-1 verdict, out-punching him in the last three rounds.
However, India could not build on the triumph and the Russians sauntered to a comfortable victory in the end.
Another standout performance for India last night was by Sanjeet (91kg), also a WSB debutant.
The 21-year-old Army boxer, who claimed a stunning gold medal at India Open in January after defeating some fancied names, lost 3-0 to Anton Zaitsev but gave a good account of himself.
The youngster fought with a lot of heart and gave his rival quite a pounding to leave him with a bloodied face by the end of the third round.
He had the upper-hand in the fourth and fifth round but fell short in the final scoreline.
Earlier, Commonwealth Games silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra (75kg), King’s Cup bronze-medallist Rohit Tokas (64kg) and former national champion Madan Lal (52kg) lost their respective bouts in a unanimous verdict.
Mandeep even ended up with a cut above his left eye during his clash against Ramazan Saaduev.
India’s next WSB clash would be a home affair, against Astana Arlans on March 24. (agencies)
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