Rahul Poonia punches to a silver
India's hopes of bagging a boxing gold medal at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games were dashed when Rahul Poonia lost his final bout to settle for a silver in the event in Singapore.
India's hopes of bagging a boxing gold medal at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games were dashed when Rahul Poonia lost his final bout to settle for a silver in the event in Singapore.
Rahul (49kg) lost 6-13 to Jack Bateson of England. The 16-year-old was the lone Indian boxer to have made it to the finals of the Games.
Bateson, a quarter-finalist at the European Youth Championship, made an aggressive start, not giving Poonia many chances to score, but the Indian pugilist managed to throw in a few straight punches to open his account, the Indian Boxing Federation said in a statement.
As the bout progressed, Poonia seemed out of sorts against the feisty offence of his English opponent. He tried hard to gain the advantage but failed to connect. Bateson though, kept increasing the margin with his body blows and short jabs.
Earlier in the tournament, Youth National Champion Surender Singh (75kg) had to settle for a bronze medal after losing in the semifinal of the middle weight category.