President’s Cup | Mary Kom, Simranjit Kaur win gold, Gaurav Bidhuri settles for silver

President’s Cup | Mary Kom, Simranjit Kaur win gold, Gaurav Bidhuri settles for silver

no photo

India ended the President’s Cup in Indonesia with the “Best Team” award with the women pugilists dominating the ring with a gold medal in every event on the final day. The men, however, faltered in few of the events as they only got two silvers alongside three gold medals from the five up for grab.

Kom (51kg) had come to the tournament at the back of good form after she triumphed at the Indian Open and it was also a good testing ground ahead of the World Championships in October. She had a tricky bout against Vietnam’s Anh vo Thi Kim, against whom she could only win 3-2, but by the time she was in the final, she had gained her composure and the six-time world champion easily powered to a 5-0 win over Australia’s Franks April.

2018 World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) was also in top form in her final bout where she was up against Indonesia’s Asian Games bronze medallist Hasanah Huswatun, who was also a local favourite. But India’s Asian Boxing Championships silver medallist was unstoppable and won the bout 5-0.

Apart from them, Assam’s bright young talent Jamuna Boro in 54kg did was clinical in her bout, thereby beating Italy’s veteran boxer Giulia Lamagna 5-0, while youngster Monika (48kg) defeated Endang of Indonesia by a similar scoreline.

For men, the gold medallists were 2017 Ulaanbaatar Cup gold medallist Ankush Dahiya (64kg), Neeraj Swami (49kg) and Ananta Pralhad Chopade (52kg). While Chopade had a comprehensive 5-0 win over Afghanistan’s Rahmani Ramish, Dahiya followed suit against Macau’s Leung Kin Fong. Swami, however, had to break a sweat against Filipino pugilist Macado Jr. Ramel but the Indian won 4-1 eventually.

The biggest upset of the day, however, was for former World Championships bronze medallist Bidhuri, who was stunned 2-3 by Indonesian Mandagie Jill in the 56kg bantamweight bout.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all