Solanki, Hussamuddin win gold in Halle

New Delhi, June 23

Gaurav Solanki (52kg) notched up his second successive international gold medal, along with Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg) as India ended a strong campaign with six medals at the Chemistry Cup in Halle.

The Indian contingent picked up two gold, one silver and three bronze medals in all. The presence of boxing powerhouse Cuba lent a competitive edge to the event’s small draws, in which several boxers had to win just one bout to be assured of a medal.

Solanki pulled off a massive victory by edging past Cuba's fancied Jorge Alejandro Merencio in a draining contest. Hussamuddin defeated former national champion Madan Lal in a rare all-Indian final at an away international tournament. Both Solanki and Husammuddin are employed with the Indian Army. The bronze medals were claimed by Amit Panghal (49kg), Dheeraj Rangi (64kg) and Narender (+91kg).

Panghal had lost 0-5 to Cuba’s Damian Arce Duarte, while Rangi had gone down 2-3 in a high-intensity contest against Jordan’s Obada Alkasbeh.

Narender, on the other hand, was knocked out by American Richard Torrez in his last-4 stage bout held late last night. Narender’s semifinal contest lasted all of two minutes and 55 seconds before the decisive blow ended his campaign.

5 boxers in final, four fetch bronze in Mongolia

New Delhi: Sonia Lather (57kg) and Mandeep Jangra were among the five Indian boxers to enter the finals, while four others, including Shiva Thapa (60kg), signed off with bronze medals in the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia. Those who made the final along with Sonia and Mandeep were Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Himanshu Sharma (49kg), and Muhammed Etash Khan (56kg). Ending with bronze medals were Thapa, Vanhmlimpuia (75kg), Ashish (64kg), and Bina Devi Koijam (48kg), a direct entrant into the last-4 stage owing to the small size of the women’s draw. Thapa lost a closely-contested bout to home boxer Battumur Misheelt, Bina was out-punched by South Korean Kim Kum Sun. Ashish too lost to a Mongolian, Uranchmeg Munkh-Erdene. —PTI