Two losses: one on points, one pointless

Bad luck seems to be following Indian boxers in the Olympic ring. Last night, India8217;s best bet light-heavy Jitender Kumar was knocked o...

Bad luck seems to be following Indian boxers in the Olympic ring. Last night, India8217;s best bet light-heavy Jitender Kumar was knocked out in the first round in one of the most bizarre circumstances. And today Vijender Singh lost on points, though he appeared puzzled by the decision.

Jitender, the Railway pugilist was going great guns against Olympic bronze medalist Andriy Fedchuk of Ukraine when the referee stopped the contest in the latter8217;s favour, declaring Jitender medically unfit.

At the last Olympic Games in Sydney, Gurcharan Singh had met with a more or less similar fate. And, ironically, it was against Fedchuk last time too, the referee declaring the Ukrainian winner against Gurcharan despite the Indian being in the advantage.

Today, Eleuiz Sandoval from Kazakhstan gave the verdict against Vijender that the young man from Bhiwani couldn8217;t believe. He had been trading every punch with his Turkish opponent, Mustafa Karagollu but lost on points 25-20.

National team coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu also appeared surprised by the decision. 8216;8216;I couldn8217;t believe the score but what to do? We have to respect the referee8217;s decision8217;8217;, Sandhu told this paper. 8216;8216;He Vijender fought beyond my expectations without any international experience.8217;8217;

Last night8217;s decision was more bizarre. Jitender was fighting well despite a minor cut on his left eye brow in the first round. The injury needed medical attention. In fact the cut required three stitches also.

But the 27-year-old Jitender was back in the ring and the round ended 5-4 in favour of the Ukraine boxer. Jitender came back with a bang and made it 7-7 when the American referee Jose Villa stopped the bout in favour of Fedchuk.

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Jitender8217;s problem began when a spectator in the stands blew a horn that sounded like the official hooter. Thinking the round was over, Jitender dropped his guard; just at the moment Fedchuk went ahead with a flurry of punches, one of which landed on Jitender8217;s injured eyebrow.

It started bleeding again and referee called for the official doctor. He declared Jitender unfit and Villa stopped the contest in favour of Fedchuk.

8216;8216;It was one of the most unfortunate moments of my life8217;8217;, said a stunned Jitender. 8216;8216;I was one hundred percent sure of making it to the semi-finals.8217;8217;

Sandhu endorsed his trainee8217;s views and said, 8216;8216;His next opponents were weaker and I am this time confident Jitender would have won a medal.8217;8217;