India got a new hero in the 60 kg event today at the Ulaanbaatar Cup, when a 19-year-old Ankush Dahiya announced his arrival at the senior level clinching the gold medal. In 52 kg, L Devendro Singh (52kg) settled for a silver medal on the final day of the Ulaanbaatar Cup boxing tournament in Mongolia.
Former Asian youth silver medalist, Dahiya, defeated Korean Man Choe Chol in a split verdict, while Devendro lost to Indonesia’s Aldoms Suguro, again through a split decision.
The teenager made the best use of his long reach and height all through the match to claim his first gold medal at the senior level. In doing so, Dahiya landed some lusty straight blows, which swung the contest in his favour.
With this win,India signed off the tournament with an overall five medals with a gold, a silver and three bronze medals. Earlier, on Saturday, K Shyam Kumar (49kg), Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) and Priyanka Chaudhary (60kg) had settled for Bronze after losing their semifinal matches.
Before the match involving Ankush Dahiya, India’s best hope Devendro Singh, a Commonwealth Games silver-medalist and Asian Championships silver-winner, set a final bout against Suguro. The comeback man post injury, displayed and aggressive boxing and didn’t let the opponent get an easy point.
The 25-year-old Manipuri, after being denied a clear shot due to Suguro’s shell guard, Devendro did well to connect fine body blows to Suguro.
Despite the dominance, Devendro had on his opponent, the judges ruled the bout 3-2 in Suguro’s favour to keep the Indian boxer settled for a silver.