Indian boxers settle for bronze at World Cup

Akhil Kumar 54kg fought hard but fell short of luck, losing on count-back to Olympic silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal -- along with Jitender Kumar 51kg and A L Lakra 57kg -- at the AIBA Boxing World Cup in Moscow.

Akhil Kumar 54kg fought hard but fell short of luck, losing on count-back to Olympic silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal 8212; along with Jitender Kumar 51kg and A L Lakra 57kg 8212; at the AIBA Boxing World Cup in Moscow on Saturday.

The gritty 27-year-old matched his Cuban rival blow-for-blow all through the bout at the end of which the duo was tied 4-4.

But the ensuing count-back found Akhil trailing Alarcon in the overall tally of punches given by the judges.

In a cliffhanger of a bout, Akhil and Alarcon were cautious to start with and the opening round ended 0-0. The two exchanged a couple of blows in the second round to be locked 2-2.

The third round had Alarcon leading by a point but Akhil managed to bridge the small gap by scoring the only point of the fourth and final round.

8220;I had worked out a defensive plan for today and he, it seemed, had a similar strategy. We both remained cautious and though I lost, I can proudly say that I gave it my best,8221; Akhil said.

8220;It hurts not to have won the gold medal that I always aim for but I am happy that I could give an Olympic silver medallist a run for his money. It was an exciting fight which I enjoyed thoroughly. Anyways my motto in life is get up and keep moving until you achieve your goal,8221; he added.

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Earlier, Jitender Kumar 51kg showed early promise before running out of steam against Olympic silver medalist Hernandez Laffita, losing 6-14.

The Haryana-boxer led 4-2 in the first round but Laffita bounced back to blank Jitender 3-0 in the second round.

The next two rounds also belonged to the Cuban, who landed 11 scoring punches against Jitender8217;s two to romp home comfortably.

8220;I did pretty well in the first round but lost my composure in after that. It happens but I am happy with the way I performed,8221; said Jitender.

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A L Lakra also put up a brave fight against Cuban Idel Torriente but eventually lost 3-6 to settle for the third spot.

Light heavy weight pugilist Dinesh Kumar will take the ring later on Saturday night against Russia8217;s Artur Berbetiev.