Warnings knock Vijender out of CWG, three Indians in finals

Mon, Oct 11 10 10:07 PM

Poonam Mehra New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) Olympic bronze-medallist Vijender Singh fell victim to some harsh refereeing and settled for a bronze medal after the India''s protest was rejected even as three others made their way into the finals on a dramatic day for the country''s boxers in the Commonwealth Games here today. Vijender (75kg), the reigning world number one, lost 3-4 to England''s Anthony Ogogo after being handed two warnings -- first for hitting his opponent on the back of his head and the second for holding the Englishman -- in the drama-filled final round of the bout. But Suranjoy Singh (52kg), Manoj Kumar (60kg) and Paramajeet Samota (+91kg) assured India of at least three silver medals by beating Pakistan''s Haroon Iqbal, Bahamas'' Valentino Knowles and Tonga''s F A Junior respectively. However, the talking point of the day was Vijender''s shock loss. The Indian team filed a protest but the jury which reviewed the bout upheld Canadian referee Michael Summers'' decisions. "The jury reviewed the bout and came to the conclusion that Vijender was holding his opponent and the referee was right in warning him. When the Indian team pointed out that even Ogogo was holding Vijender, the jury felt it was not the case," Indian Boxing Federation Secretary General P K Muralidharan Raja said, adding that he was "satisfied with the final verdict". An enraged Vijender lambasted the twin warnings, saying the four-point penalty was "harsh and unfair." Speaking to PTI after his shocking loss in front of a capacity crowd at the Talkatora Stadium, the 24-year-old World Championship bronze-medallist said the warnings were totally uncalled for. "The warnings were unfair and harsh. If the referee thought I was holding Ogogo then he should have penalised this guy as well. He was also holding me," the disappointed boxer said. "It''s a joke that somebody has won by scoring points just out of warnings," he said. Although India is set for its best-ever medal haul of seven, it was a thoroughly disappointing day for the nation''s boxers as they found themselves at the receiving end of some harsh refereeing. All of Ogogo''s four points came through warnings handed to Vijender in the third round. The loss became all the more shocking as Vijender had won his previous two bouts in less than the regulatory three rounds. The world number one Indian was leading 3-2 with barely 20 seconds left on the clock when he was handed a warning for holding his rival after an engrossing fight. The capacity crowd at Talkatora Stadium booed Ogogo and chanted ''cheater, cheater'' even as a visibly upset Vijender made his way out of the arena. .

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