Bell rings early for Dingko, but shooters trap silver

Coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was also convinced that Dingko fought well but he did not say anything further. The North Korean had an advantage of a unified cheering squad that had come in a large number.

For Dingko, a few members of the Indian media and chef-de-mission Jagdish Tytler were the lone support. But all the shouting from the Indian camp failed to lift Dingko from the ashes. Dingko said he had lost about seven kilos in the last two months to come into match-fit shape.

‘‘Maybe due to that I became weak also,’’ said a dazed Dingko in the locker room. A 10-hour wait at the Bangkok airport on way to Busan also took its toll on the Indian team.

The Indian national champion fought well in the first round but the 4-1 score went in favour of the Chol. In round two also the Korean had an upper hand with a 7-2 in his favour. In the subsequent rounds it was a tough going for the Bangkok Asian Games champion and he lost the bout.

Dingko was fast on his feet and created openings in the early rounds. But almost all his punches failed to connect and he became erratic, specially in the last round.‘‘I think Dingko was a bit unlucky.’’ said Sandhu.

There was talk in the Indian camp of the controversial training methods of the Bulgarian coach Petr Stroyvich, attached with the Indian team. But no one was willing to go on record.

Stroyvich is said to have changed the competitive strategy of the Indian boxers.

According to some boxing officials and coaches, Stroyvich forces the Indian boxers to go all out from the word go.

But the technique was not suitable to their physique and temperament, the officials said.

On Friday, Indian light-flyweight champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mohammad Ali Qamar will take on Hafeez Imran of Pakistan in the first round.