Manjeet Singh had to content with a silver medal at the 3rd China Open boxing tournament after going down to local lad Akepeer Yusuf in the final of the super heavy weight category (+91kg), in Guiyang.
Making his international debut, the 21-year-old Indian boxer put up a sterling show in what was a fight to the finish on Friday.
Yusuf made an aggressive start making full use of his long reaching arms. But Singh, a two time Youth National Championship bronze medallist, displayed some good ring movement and in-fighting to land a few telling blows on his opponent in the second round.
However in the final round the Chinese boxer was more dominant with his precise attacks, which kept the Indian on the back foot. Manjeet lost on a split decision in the end.
The Indian men's team returns from the event with one silver and three bronze medals – Sunil Kumar (52kg), Ajay Kumar (56kg) and Jaideep (75kg) had to be content with a bronze medal performance after losing out in the round of four.
The tournament has been a good exposure for the young Indian team, especially for the likes of Manjeet, Ajay and Jaideep, who were all making their international debut in Guiyang.
Photograph: IBF Media
