Mohammed Hussamuddin
– Photo: social media
Expansion
Indian boxers Deepak Bhoria (51kg) and Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) had to settle for bronze medals at the World Championships. Deepak went down 3-4 in a hard-fought semi-final against two-time World Championship medalist Bilal Benama of France. Hussamuddin, on the other hand, did not enter the ring for the semi-finals due to a knee injury. The 29-year-old Hussamuddin suffered the injury in the quarterfinals against Bulgaria’s Jay Diaz Ibanez.
The Boxing Federation of India said in a statement that Hussamuddin had given a walkover due to injury. He had injured his knee during his previous bout, which was accompanied by pain and swelling. The team management decided that Hussamuddin would not feature in the semi-finals. There was a danger of aggravating his injury. Hussamuddin was playing in the World Championship for the first time. In the semi-finals, he was to play against Sadel Horta of Cuba. India’s other boxer Nishant (71kg) is also in the semi-finals. He has to enter the ring against Kazakhstan’s Asian champion Aslanbek Shimbergenov.
All these three boxers were already assured of bronze medals by reaching the semi-finals. This is India’s best performance in terms of number of medals. The good news for the Indian boxers is that all three medals are assured in the Olympic category. The Asian Games are to be held in September-October, which will be the Olympic qualifying tournament.