By Ravi Kant Singh, IANS
Hyderabad : P. Narjit Singh fought a gallant battle and came from behind to clinch the 54 kg gold medal in the boxing competition for India at the G.M.C. Balayogi Indoor Stadium on the penultimate day of the 4th Military World Games here Saturday.
The Havildar from 6/11 Gurkha Rifles defeated Marcel Schneider of Germany 12-8 after trailing his opponent all through the first three rounds of the final bout.
All hopes were on Narjit, who was the only Indian in the boxing finals, and he did not let the large turnout down.
Even as the crowd prayed silently for the home pugilist, who was 1-2, 3-5 and 5-6 behind in the first three round, Narjit came into his own in the fourth and final round, drawing level at 7-7 with a left-right combination.
That was signal for the crowd to erupt and the Indian never looked back, clinching victory when a left-right-left to the German’s head finally gave him the decisive lead.
“The crowd support was fantastic. It really made a difference because the German was a very tough boxer,” gushed Narjit after the victory.
The Indian has made it a habit of watching video of his opponent’s previous bouts to plan ahead and it paid rich dividends.
“I knew that he tires after three rounds so I kept fighting close for the first three rounds. When my corner told me that I was only one point behind after the third round I knew I had the gold in my reach. That is why I started so fast in the final round.
“I wish we could hold more international tournaments in India. It is so great to win the gold medal in front of your fans.”
The Indian, trained by Bangkok gold medal winner Dingko Singh, was all praise for his mentor and coach.
“I was afraid of boxing because I could not take the punches. Dingko Sir taught me how to weave and dance in the ring and still keep my balance all the time. This gold medal is for him and I think it will give me the confidence to go for the national team next time so that I can represent India again,” said the Havildar, who has been promised a promotion to Naib Subedar for the gold-winning feat.
Uzbekistan was the biggest winner in the ring, when all their four finalists ended up clinching gold. Russia were next when three of their four men won their respective finals, while China won two and the US one.
Germany’s both finalists had to settle for silver and men from Belarus met the same fate.
The results:
48kg: Gai Liang (Chn) bt Gu Seung Hyeok (Kor) 23-11
51kg: Gai Linzhi (Chn) bt John Franklin (USA) 19-5
54kg: P. Narjit Singh (Ind) bt Marcel Schneider (Ger) 12-8
57kg: Abdugaffor Umarov (Uzb) bt Andrei Strelkov (Rus) 17-6
60kg: M. Bahodir (Uzb) bt Sandro Schaer (Ger) 29-12
64kg: Alexei Zubok (Rus) bt Tauheni Ramashkevich (Blr) 23-10
69kg: H. Rawshan (Uzb) bt Tofig Ahmadiv (Blr) 32-14
75kg: Daniel Shved (Rus) bt Mikalai Vessialov (Blr) 19-4
81kg: Serguei Kovalov (Rus) bt Aleh Dymkavets (Blr) Walk-over
91kg: Elyorbek Gulomov (Uzb) bt Joe Guzman (USA) 27-7
Over 91kg: Andrew Shepherd (USA) bt Erkan Teper (Ger) 15-7