Judging row mars world boxing championship
NEW DELHI: Scoring controversy reared its ugly head at the Women’s World Championships here on Monday with Bulgarian boxer Stanimira Petrova and her coach accusing the judges of ‘corruption’ after losing the pre-quarterfinal bout against India’s Sonia Chahal in featherweight (57kg) at the IG stadium.
In a close contest, Sonia defeated former world champion Petrova 3-2 in a split decision. As Sonia was declared winner Bulgaria chief coach Peter Lesov, an Olympic gold medallist (1980), threw a bottle on the floor and gestured at the crowd in frustration. A visibly upset Petrova, also a European champion, criticised the decision. “Its corruption by judges, not a fair result,” she told the media shaking her head, before walking off.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) was quick to take disciplinary action against Lesov, and cancelled his accreditation. “AIBA decided to remove the accreditation, and therefore the right to be in the corner, from the coach of the Bulgarian delegation Petar Yosifov Lesov (BUL) due to his unacceptable behaviour...,” the AIBA said in a statement. “The incident will be forwarded to the Disciplinary Commission for further review.”
AIBA has adopted a zero tolerance policy against any criticism of results as refereeing has been a major area of concern for the international body. The AIBA has also removed any mechanism of protest or review after the bouts. However, from next year AIBA is going to introduce a system whereby an athlete can protest if he or she feels the judges have erred in decision-making.
Monday’s bout between Petrova and Sonia could have gone either way. With an open stance Petrova began aggressively and took Sonia by surprise. The Indian looked to defend and score on counter-attacks even as Petrova tried to push her to the corner and land punches. Sonia stepped back and evaded her punches before hitting a left-right combination. Petrova, however, replied by scoring with a few clear punches of her own. The second round saw Petrova throwing a barrage of combination at Sonia. The Bulgarian looked flustered with Sonia maintaining a good distance from her.
In the third round, however, Sonia was more attacking and unleashed a powerful left-right combination after cornering Petrova. “It was a fair result. I thought I lost the second round and I was more attacking in the third round,” said Sonia who became the fifth Indian boxer to enter the quarter-finals.
PINKI, SIMRANJIT WIN
Pinki Jangra (51kg) defeated England’s Alice Lillie Jones and Simranjit Kaur (64 kg) thrashed Scotland’s Megan Reid by unanimous verdicts.