Sarita Devi bags bronze at the Silesian Open Boxing Tournament for women in Poland

Former World Champion - L Sarita Devi, who was bestowed with the prestigious Arjuna award, ended her campaign in the ongoing 13th Silesian Open Boxing Tournament for women, with a bronze medal. The Asian Games medalist lost to Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova in the semis of the 60 kg category as she lost by a score of 0-5, a decision which the Indian contingent felt did not reflect fairly on the contest.

“It was a controversial decision. Sarita was clearly better but judges did not rule in her favour, even the crowd got behind her after the loss because everyone could see,” one of the coaches travelling with the team told PTI.

Sarita was joined by Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (81kg) in the list of those whose campaign came to an end in the semifinals on Friday. But the reputed Mary Kom (48kg) and Manisha (54kg) made the finals, which are scheduled for Saturday night in their respective categories.

Meanwhile, former youth world champion Jyoti Gulia (51kg) entered the youth finals. Earlier, the Indian junior boxers produced a terrific performance to amass a total of 13 medals -- six gold, six silver, and a bronze medal.