New Delhi: Kavinder Singh Bisht defeated compatriot Mohammed Hussamuddin in a rare all-Indian summit clash of the 56kg category to clinch the gold medal at the GeeBee international boxing tournament in Helsinki, Finland Sunday while Shiva Thapa (60kg) and three others claimed silver medals to end a fine Indian campaign.
Signing off with silver medals apart from three-time Asian medallist Thapa (60kg) and CWG bronze-medallist Hussamuddin are rookie Govind Sahani (49kg) and Dinesh Dagar (69kg).
Bisht and Hussamuddin who were both from Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) were familiar with each other’s techniques and that was apparent in the intense bout.
But it proved to be Bisht’s day as the Navyman overcame a cut sustained above his right eye in the final round to emerge triumphant against his Army rival. It was also Bisht’s maiden gold medal in an international tourney after making the jump to bantamweight.
On the other hand, Sahani started off strongly against Thailand’s Thitisan Panmod in his summit showdown, clinching the opening round unanimously. However, Panmod found favour with a majority of the judges in the next two rounds and the messy bout ended 3-2 in the flamboyant Thai boxer’s name.
Thapa, besides being a former bronze-winner at the World Championships, lost 1-4 to local favourite Arslan Khataev. In an intense battle, Thapa claimed the final round honours but the judges ruled the first two rounds in favour of Khataev.
Dagar, a silver-medallist from last year’s India Open, was up against CWG gold-medallist England Pat McCormack in the finals. McCormack, was expectedly the more aggressive of the two boxers but to Dagar’s credit, he fought hard and withstood three eight counts before the referee ended the contest a few seconds into the third round.
Ending with bronze medals after semifinal losses were Sumit Sangwan (91kg), former youth world champion Sachin Siwach (52kg) and Naveen Kumar (+91kg).