It tuned out be a perfect day for India in the fifth Commonwealth Boxing Championship as four boxers entered the finals.

By Garima Verma

There is always a lull before the storm. If Sunday’s script was written in wretchedness after a shock exit of Akhil Kumar, Monday was alleviation personified as the Indian boxers were no less than a blizzard in the ring.

They ruled the roost on the fourth day of the fifth Commonwealth Boxing Championship and treated home crowd with some spectacular skills. The hosts are now assured of at least four silver finishes as four Indian pugilists secured the final berths in their respective categories.

The momentum which Suranjoy Singh set by outpunching Wales’ Andrew Selby in the first semi-final bout of the day (fly weight 52 kg), rubbed off on the other Indians as well. Vijender Singh, the reigning world No. 1 in the middle weight (75kg) category, followed by outclassing Tanzania’s Selemani Kidunda. Then Dinesh Kumar also kept with the day’s tradition and dealt Tanzania’s Leonard Machichi a knock-out punch to finish his light-heavy weight (81kg) bout before the stipulated time. Pramajeet Samota capped the brilliant day with a 5-2 win over Scotland’s Ross Henderson. 

Suranjoy spelt clear his intentions right from the word go as he lost no moment in taking technical and psychological edge over Selby. While, the taller boxers may have often been seen taking advantage of their height, the diminutive Indian used his small stature to his gain and ducked the rival’s attacks easily.

Such powerful were Suranjoy’s punches that the Welsh boxer tumbled down in the first round itself. Suranjoy provided quite an entertainment in the ring as he didn’t miss the chance to tease his opponent after he lost track and started throwing wild punches.

Entering the second round with a 2-0 lead and the opponent virtually out of sorts, Suranjoy added two more points in his kitty. As the visiting boxer got frantic in the third round, he ended up getting cautioned by the referee and the tie got sealed in Suranjoy’s favour 4-0. He will take on Mauritius’ Oliver Lavigi in the final.

Coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu heaped praises on Suranjoy for “doing his job well”. “The opponent was a lot taller, so Suranjoy had to keep good guard and move well to save himself from counter attack, which he did perfectly,” Sandhu said.

Up next from the Indian bunch was crowd favourite Vijender, who had lost won a gold in Chemistry Cup in Germany in 2008. He was treated to some loud cheers from his fans as he entered the arena to the beats of a thumping ‘Haryanvi’ number. The Beijing Olympic bronze-medallist showcased a brilliant mix of offence and defence, using the space well, to puzzle Kidunda and make him go haywire with his punches. Vijender kept dealing him accurate jabs and led 4-0 at the end of the first round.

The second round onwards, the Tanzanian tried his best to get some points against his name, but all he could manage was some shots in the wilderness. Vijender, meanwhile, was hardly static in the ring and hence evaded his attacks. Vijender was leading 8-0 at the start of the final round and the scoreboard was reading 10-1 on his side, when he treated Kidunda to a powerful right jab and the referee stopped contest due to a head injury to Kidunda.  

“It has been a long time since I won a gold. So, I am hoping that my dream will come true this time and winning it in front of the fabulous home crowd will be special,” 24-year-old Vijender said, who will face England’s Frank Buglioni in the final.

In the light-heavy weight (81kg) category, Dinesh also completely outclassed Leonard Machichi of Tanzania and won 8-1 as the referee once again had to stop the contest due to a head injury to Machichi. Both the boxers matched each other blow-to-blow and entered the second round at 1-1.

Dinesh changed the look of the things in the second round as he kept hurling a combination of right and left jabs, throwing down his opponent to the floor in between, to sit pretty with a 6-1 lead. In the final round, Dinesh had just earned his seventh point when he his right upper cut threw Machichi off-guard and the match ended 8-1. He locks horns with Scotland’s Callum Johnson in the final.

Paramjeet, in the last bout of the in the super heavy weight (+91kg), stunned one and all, including coach Sandhu by outshining a much-fancied Henderson 5-2. “His performance was beyond imagination. I was expecting a 3-1 score from our boys today, but getting 4-0 was spectacular,” Sandhu said.

Results, Day 4 (Semis): Fly weight 52 Kg: Suranjoy Singh (Ind) bt Andrew Selby (Wal) 4-0, Oliver Lavigi (Mri) PD Suresh (Sri) 3-1. Middle weight 75 Kg: Frank Buglioni (Eng) bt Nathan McEwen (Nzl) 10-2, Vijender Singh (Ind) bt Selemani Kidunnda RSC OL 10-1. Light heavy weight 81 kg: Callum Johnson (Sco) bt Rodney Prosper (Mri) 7-2, Dinesh Kumar (Ind) bt Leonard Machichi 8-1 RSC OL. Heavy weight 91 Kg: Simon Valily (Eng) bt David Alona (NZ) 10-5, Elly Ajowi (Ken) bt Stephen Simmons (Sco) 9-3. Super heavy weight + 91 Kg: Joseph Parker (NZ) bt Frazer Clarke (Eng) 7-3, Paranjut Samota (Ind) bt Ross Henderson (Sco) 5-2.