On a day when the Phillipines showed their class in ample measure, India struggled to find its feet, literally, against quality opposition in the Goa International Boxing Championship, organised by Goa Amateur Boxing Association, at Colva, on Thursday.
The Phillipines had all three of its boxers -- Harry Tanamor, Lerio Arlan and Parrenas Warlifo -- in the finals while two more pugilists, Junard Ladon and F Lournic, who will be seen in action tomorrow, are also expected to make the grade.
Hungary's lone boxer in action today -- Istvan Szucs -- had little trouble putting it across India's Raj Kumar. The referee had to stop the contest in the third round after the Hungarian outscored the Indian 26-3.
Two other Hungarians, Szello Imre and Balog Vilmos, will fight their semi-final battles on the morrow.
India saw three of its boxers -- Sonu, Girish Pawar and Raj Kumar -- bow out of the championship without a whimper, bolstering the belief that Indian pugilists are yet to grow up.
India chief coach G S Sandhu, however, disagrees.
"The Phillipines is a superior side and we should acknowledge that. There is no harm in losing to better sides," he said.
On the brighter side, the hosts saw M Soranjay Singh (lightfly), Suresh Kumar (flyweight), Vijender Singh (bantamweight), Ranjit Singh (lightweight), Jai Bhagwan (lightweight) and Harpreet Singh (light heavy), all make it to the finals, though their showing left a lot to be desired.
India's best hope, Olympian S Suresh Kumar, was sluggish right from the start. And though he got the better of his India-Blue counterpart, Aswani Sharma, Suresh was a pale shadow of his former self.
Said Sandhu: "He is recovering from a chronic injury. He is a talented boxer and will take time to get into the groove. I am not happy with his performance today but am sure that as time passes by he will pick-up."
Gold medallist at the YMCA International Championship (Delhi) Ranjit Singh put his experience to good use to negate the challenge of Nepal's five-time National champion Dapendra Mahajan. Ranjit made a slow start, reading Dapendra's movements carefully. But once, he knew what Dapendra was plotting, he got into the groove and upset his calculations. For his efforts, Dapendra had to settle for the most promising boxer award.
The best bout of the day, if not the championship, was between the Phillipines' Olympian Lerio Arlan and Sri Lanka's best boxing hope Manoj Dinesh Kumar. Lerio won the bout 26-18.
Kumar had, on the inaugural day, finished off India's Vishwanath Govekar in 27 seconds flat.
The bout, however, had its fair share of the thrills and frills, with fortunes fluctuating. Right from the start, the Sri Lankan came out all guns blazing and led the first round 8-4. In the next, the Sri Lankan again was at his fluent best with straight punches and was sitting pretty but not comfortably at 10-9.
In the third round, the Fillipino Olympian changed strategy and pinned the Sri Lankan on the backfoot. Arlan came up with the butterfly style to collect points with ease. A nervous Dinesh Kumar did not know what to do and by the time he decided, it was already too late. Arlan had walked away with the bout 26-18.
In a fitting tribute to the best bout of the championship, Arlan was named the best boxer of the day while Dinesh Kumar had to settle for the best loser's honours.
Lerio will lock horns with India's Vijender Singh for the bantamweight crown.
"They (Phillipines) are a class act and it will be difficult for us to put the brakes on them," Sandhu told reporters after the end of third day's bouts.
"All that we can do is score points and get away," the chief coach added.
Results:
Lightfly: M Soranjay Singh (India-Red) bt Khemanand Belwal (India-Green) walk-over
Lightfly: Harry Tanamor (Phillipines) bt Sonu (India-B) 27-8
Flyweight: Parrenas Warlifo (Phillipines) bt Girish Pawar (India-Blue) 28-13
Flyweight: Suresh Kumar (India-Red) bt Aswani Sharma (India-Gold) 17-9
Bantamweight: Vijender Singh (India-Red) bt Nadeem Hossen (Bangladesh) 12-3
Bantamweight: Lerio Arlan (Phillipines) bt Manoj Dinesh Kumar (Sri Lanka) 26-18
Lightweight: Ranjit Singh (India-Blue) bt Dapendra Mahajan (Nepal) 22-13
Lightweight: Jai Bhagwan Singh (India-Red) bt Aullolouy (Phillipines) walk over
Lightheavy: Ivan Szucs (Hungary) bt Raj Kumar (India-Red) RSC
Lightheavy: Harpreet Singh (India-Red) bt Mohammad Qadir (Afghanistan) 24-10
