Judging row mars world boxing
CRYING FOUL Former champion Petrova’s camp livid after losing close bout to India’s Sonia Chahal
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.
Indian boxers, however, continued their domination with Sonia, Pinki Jangra (51kg), Simranjit Kaur (64kg) among eight boxers in the quarter-finals. Seema Poonia (+81kg), who got a bye in the first round, will play the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
In a close contest, Sonia defeated former world champion Petrova 3-2. As Sonia was declared winner Bulgaria chief coach Peter Lesov, an Olympic gold medallist (1980), threw bottles on the floor and gestured at the crowd in frustration. A visibly upset Petrova, also a European champion, said: “It’s corruption by judges, not a fair result,” she told the media.
The international boxing association (AIBA) was quick to take disciplinary action against Lesov and cancelled his accreditation. “The international boxing association does not tolerate such behaviour against the AIBA values and AIBA Code of Conduct, especially being a coach,” AIBA said in a statement.
AIBA has adopted a zero tolerance policy against any criticism of results. The AIBA has also removed any mechanism of protest or review after the bouts. However, from next year, AIBA will introduce a system whereby an athlete can protest if he or she feels the judges have erred.
The bout between Petrova and Sonia could have gone either way. Petrova began aggressively and the Indian relied on counterattacks. The second round saw Petrova throwing a barrage of punches at Sonia but she maintained a good distance from Petrova. Sonia attacked in the third round with a powerful left-right combination. “It was a fair result. I thought I lost the second round and I was more attacking in the third round,” said Sonia.
PINKI, SIMRANJIT WIN
In the 51kg category, Pinki Jangra defeated England’s Alice Lillie Jones by a unanimous verdict. Jones was quick on her feet and with swift hands attacked relentlessly. It took some time for Pinki to recover. Pinki was more in control in the next two rounds and struck some powerful blows after evading Lillie’s reach. She will play Chol Mi Pang of North Korea in the quarters.
In the 64kg pre-quarterfinal, Simranjit beat Scotland’s Megan Reid 5-0. In the middleweight (75kg bout) Saweety Boora of India lost to Elzbieta Wojcik of Poland by unanimous 5-0 verdict. The Poland boxer showed intent from the start and a powerful cross brought the Indian down on the ring.