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Journalism of Courage
All the four Indians in the fray at the boxing World Cup on Saturday were in the red corner, but it just wasn’t supposed to be India’s red-letter day. In the end, Cuba proved to be the nemesis, with all three Indians up against the rivals from the traditional powerhouse failing to reach the finals.
While Jitender Kumar lost to Laffita Hernandez in his 51kg bout, Akhil Kumar was unlucky in his contest against Yankiel Leon Alarcon in the 54kg category. Antharesh Lalit Lakra lost his 57kg bout against Idel Torriente 6-3. The fourth Indian, Dinesh Kumar, retired in the second round after trailing Russian Artur Beterbiev 10-1.
Though all the contests were closely fought, the Indians were unable to capitalise on their chances. The fact that the first point in each bout was scored only in the second round is proof that the Indians were not willing to lower their guard.
The most disappointing was Akhil’s loss, with the bantamweight ending up on the losing side against his Olympic silver medallist opponent on countback despite tying 4-4 in points. With both boxers beginning cautiously, no points were scored for the first three minutes. Akhil did well to come back in the final round after trailing by a point, but could not book a spot in the final.
“My biggest strength is my counter-attacking, but today my opponent was very defensive and cautious. So it was difficult to score points. But I am not upset, it was a good bout. I did my best. That I lost on countback, that too by just a couple of points, shows that luck wasn’t on my side,” Akhil told The Sunday Express after the bout.
Jitender, meanwhile, made an impressive beginning against Olympic silver medallist Hernandez, but could not keep up the rhythm. The Indian took the lead in the first round and managed to keep his opponent subdued in the second as well but Hernandez ran away with it in the last two rounds to win 14-6. Later he admitted he got carried away. “I got excited, I just wanted to finish off the bout and the opposition,” he said.
