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Akhil, Jitender settle for bronze
Three Indian pugilists Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and AL Lakra lost their respective semi-final bouts in the World Cup to settle for bronze medals in Moscow today.
Akhil Kumar (54kg) fought hard but fell short of luck, losing on count-back to Olympic silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal -- along with Jitender Kumar (51kg) and AL Lakra (57kg) -- at the AIBA Boxing World Cup Moscow on Saturday.
The gritty 27-year-old matched his Cuban rival blow-for-blow all through the bout at the end of which the duo was tied 4-4.
But the ensuing count-back found Akhil trailing Alarcon in the overall tally of punches given by the judges.
In a cliffhanger of a bout, Akhil and Alarcon were cautious to start with and the opening round ended 0-0. The two exchanged a couple of blows in the second round to be locked 2-2.
The third round had Alarcon leading by a point but Akhil managed to bridge the small gap by scoring the only point of the fourth and final round.
"I had worked out a defensive plan for today and he, it seemed, had a similar strategy. We both remained cautious and though I lost, I can proudly say that I gave it my best," Akhil told PTI.
"It hurts not to have won the gold medal that I always aim for but I am happy that I could give an Olympic silver medallist a run for his money. It was an exciting fight which I enjoyed thoroughly. Anyways my motto in life is get up and keep moving until you achieve your goal," he added.