Disappointment continued for Indian boxers at the World Championships, as Asian bronze medallist Jitender Kumar was disqualified during his bantamweight (54kg) first round bout in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday.
Up against old nemesis and sixth seed Yunusov Anvar of Tajikistan, Jitender was disqualified after being given the mandatory three warnings for three different offences.
The 22-year-old Indian, who created a flutter last year by making the quarter-finals at the Beijing Olympics, was first warned for clinching his opponent in the opening minute of an eventful bout.
The second warning came in the next round when he was penalised for "pushing and downing" Anvar.
The third one, that led to his disqualification, was given in the deciding round for a right uppercut.
Jitender was trailing 7-17 when the referee disqualified him.
"It's heartbreaking. It's difficult to keep your composure once you have been warned. I am very disappointed," Jitender said from Milan.
Anvar was Jitender's nemesis even in the flyweight (51kg) division and had beaten him in the quarter-finals of the inaugural President's Cup last year in June.
Like Jitender, Anvar is also a Beijing Olympics quarter-finalist and jumped a division to bantamweight this year almost around the same time the Indian made the change.
He beat Jitender as recently as in May during a training-cum-competition event in Kazakhstan.
With Jitender's ouster, three Indians have exited the blue riband event in the very first round.
Earlier, Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (51kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) lost close bouts and bowed out of the event.
