Sachin wins but India lose in World Series of Boxing tie to Russia

NEWDELHI: World youth champion Sachin Siwach made a winning debut but India ended up on the losing side, going down 1-4 to Russia in their second World Series of Boxing (WSB) clash in Kazan.

The loss to Russia’s Patriot Boxing Team was the Indian Tigers’ second successive in WSB after a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Astana Arlans in the team’s opening clash.

The 19-year-old Sachin, competing in his maiden WSB bout, gave India a fine start last night as he defeated Russian debutant Dorzho Radnaev with a terrific come-from-behind performance in the light flyweight (49kg) category. Sachin rallied after losing the first two rounds to stun the local favourite in a split 2-1 verdict, out-punching him in the last three rounds. However, India could not build on the triumph and the Russians sauntered to a comfortable victory in the end.

Another standout performance for India last night was by Sanjeet (91kg), also a WSB debutant. The 21-year-old Army boxer, who claimed a stunning gold medal at India Open in January after defeating some fancied names, lost 3-0 to Anton Zaitsev but gave a good account of himself. The youngster fought with a lot of heart and gave his rival quite a pounding to leave him with a bloodied face by the end of the third round.

He had the upper hand in the fourth and fifth round but fell short in the final scoreline. Earlier, CWG silver-medallist Mandeep Jangra (75kg), King’s Cup bronze-medallist Rohit Tokas (64kg) and Madan Lal (52kg) lost their respective bouts.