It was a kind of satisfied smile that falls short of being completely happy on the faces of Sarjubala Devi (48kg) and Sweety Boora (81kg). The two young Indians fell short of a Gold and had to settle with Silver medals in their respective weight categories at the Finals of the 8th AIBA Women World Boxing Championship held in Jeju city, Korea.
After head tripping performances all through the tournament, both pugilists went down to their opponents in the Finals but not without winning the respect of their compatriots and also their opponents.
Sarjubala Goes Down To Nazym Kyzaiby
Sarjubala’s defeat was a little disappointing as the AIBA World Youth Champion from 2011 was everyone’s favourite for the Gold in the Light Fly (45-48kg) weight category. She was outclassed by a more experienced opponent in the form of Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay, Bronze medalist from the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship.
Sarjubala started the bout strong. She was more aggressive of the two in the first round and landed some quickfire punches to the body of Nazym. The first round belonged to Sarjubala on every judges’ scorecard.
After that the world number 3 Nazym found her rhythm. From the beginning of the second to the final round, Nazym hit some deft combination punches. Sarjubala was still punching fast but lacked accuracy on her punches and this gave Nazym the crucial space needed for counter punches. As a result every round after the first belonged to Nazym. The final scorecard had Nazym as a 3-0 winner on points by unanimous decision.
Sweety Takes A Deserved Silver
Sweety on the other hand was a winner even in defeat. Competing in her first ever International tournament the boxer tried as best she could against a taller opponent. Xiaoli Yang of China made full use of her Height Advantage against Sweety.
Sweety tried very hard to get in punching range but Yang kept her at bay with some good straight punches. Sweety almost fell several times trying to move in with big puches. Yang proved better in most departments. By the time the final bell rang, Sweety had gotten visibly slower on her feet. The match belonged to the more deserving boxer of the two. To Sweety’s credit, it is quite an achievement for the 22 year old to win the Silver at a World Boxing Championship in her first ever International Outing. A rare feat in the world of boxing.
Sports Rediscovered congratulates both the boxers on their brilliant performance at the 8th AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship.
