Negri’s Ravinder takes boxing gold without dropping a point

BOXER Ravinder Singh Mann wasw slumped in a corner after he was s denied a gold at the last Malaysia a Games (Sukma) in Kuching two o years ago.

But yesterday, the 21-year-o old from Negri Sembilan was punch hing his fists in the air in she er delight after making a solid comeback to win the boys’ below 80kg category final at the Datuk Lope Hashim Hall in Bagan Datuk yesterday.

The lanky Ravinder was in superb form as he beat all his three opponents without conceding a point.

He threw some solid punches to beat Terengganu’s Mohammad Noor Shahrul Mohd Saidin 5-0 in the final.

He was also in ferocious mood in the semi-finals packing off Muhamad Firdaus Abdullah of Melaka 5-0 on Wednesday and Qairul Naim Jasman of Sarawak 5-0 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Ravinder said he trained hard the last two months to finish on top of the podium after losing the gold in the 91kg class at the last Sukma.

“It’s my second and last Sukma and I wanted to bow out with a gold after my disappointment in Sarawak,” said Ravinder, who thanked his coach Azmi Mohd Yunus and family for supporting him to get back to top.

“I defeated all my three opponents with an identical score of 5-0. It’s the best achievement in my boxing career.”

“I will take a break from boxing but will pursue this sport after completing my studies,” said Ravinder, who hopes to complete his degree in the Computer Science at the Inti International University in Nilai.

Said Azmi: “He made his state proud by delivering the only gold in boxing and winning all three bouts with a 5-0 score.