Rio-bound Vikas, Manoj Kumar settle for bronze

Asian games champion Vikas Krishan (75kg) and former common wealth gold medalist Manoj Kumar (64kg) today had to be content with bronze medals in the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament. Both the players have booked their Rio tickets by qualifying to semis.

While Vikas was declared medically unfit and had to concede his bout against Turkmenistan’s Achilov Arslanbek, Manoj lost 0-3 to reigning European champion Pat McCormack of Britain.

In another disappointing news for India, Sumit Sangwan’s (81kg) hopes of qualifying for the Olympics also ended today.  Sumit, who lost to top seed Petr Khamukov of Russia in the quarterfinal last night, would have remained in contention had his opponent gone on to win the gold medal. But the Russian chose to give a walkover in the semifinal, dashing Sumit’s hopes.

Vikas sustained the cut last night during his quarterfinal contest against Korea’s Lee Dongyun. The Indian triumphed 3-0 to make the semifinal and assure himself of an Olympic quota berth.

However, the injury he sustained required stitches on his forehead, which forced him out of today’s semifinal clash.

“Vikas Krishan can’t box today as he was declared medically unfit by the official doctors of the competition in the morning weigh in and medical examination because of stitches above his eyes,” an official of the Indian team told PTI.

Also in action today in the evening session would be Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg), who will have to beat Spaniard Carmona Heredia Samuel in the semifinal to be assured of a berth in the Olympics as only two quota places are up for grabs in his weight category.

So far, three Indian boxers have qualified for the Olympic Games. Apart from Vikas and Manoj, Shiva Thapa (56kg) has also made the cut, booking his berth in the Asian Qualifiers in March.