Blom outsmarts rival to advance to last eight

PSYCHOLOGY student Sinethemba Blom outthought and then brained his taller opponent to win his 64kg boxing bout and advance to the last eight at the Commonwealth Games yesterday.

Blom‚ a final year BA student at the University of the Western Cape‚ needed the first round to work out Guyana’s lanky Colin Lewis‚ who is nicknamed Superman. He initially struggled to avoid the jab‚ and often made the mistake of leaning back to get out of range. However, after the first round he bobbed his way in under Lewis’s jab.

That tactic proved to be kryptonite for his foe‚ who was badly exposed on the inside. It was no surprise that four of the five judges scored the South African the victor.

Blom’s biggest concern‚ however‚ was a gash above his left eyebrow‚ seemingly from a clash of heads‚ although coach Mlandeli Mngqibisa was confident it wouldn’t be a factor come his quarterfinal against Jessie Lartey of Ghana tomorrow.

Lartey is at his third Games‚ having made the last 16 of the 56kg division at Delhi 2010 and the quarterfinals of the 60kg class at Glasgow 2014.

Blom‚ who will be guaranteed a medal if he can beat Lartey‚ has been boxing since he was six‚ sparring at school where kids would make a ring using desks.

The 25-year-old was two when his father‚ a farm worker who owned livestock in the Eastern Cape‚ was found murdered not long after an argument with a white farmer who had threatened to kill him following an altercation.

Blom was raised by sisters and a late brother in a small RDP house in Dunoon‚ a township near Milnerton.

“We were more than 10. One has his own corner with a blanket‚ the other one his own corner. We have two beds for parents and stuff‚ so it was quite hard.”

Apart from boxing and studying‚ Blom also works part-time at a call centre. —