Through to Olympics, injured Vikas, Manoj settle for bronze

‘Vikas Krishan can't box today as he was declared medically unfit’

Manoj was no match for reigning European champion Pat McCormack of Britain.

Already through to the Olympics, Indian boxers Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg) had to be content with bronze medals in the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) World qualifying tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday.

While Vikas was declared medically unfit and had to concede his bout against Turkmenistan's Achilov Arslanbek, Manoj lost 0-3 to reigning European champion Pat McCormack of Britain.

In another disappointment for India, Sumit Sangwan's (81kg) hopes of qualifying for the Olympics also ended.

Sumit, who lost to top seed Petr Khamukov of Russia in the quarter-finals on Thursday right, would have remained in contention had his opponent gone on to win the gold medal. But the Russian chose to give a walkover in the semi-final, dashing his hopes.

Vikas sustained the cut during his quarter-final contest against Korea's Lee Dongyun on Thursday. The Indian won 3-0 to make the semi-finals and assure himself an Olympic quota berth.

However, the injury he sustained required stitches on his forehead, which forced him out of the semi-final bout.

"Vikas Krishan can't box today as he was declared medically unfit by the official doctors of the competition in the morning weigh in and medical examination because of stitches above his eyes," an official with the Indian team said.

Also in action in Friday evening’s session is Commonwealth Games silver medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg), who will have to beat Spaniard Carmona Heredia Samuel in the semi-finals make sure of a berth in the Olympics as only two quota places are up for grabs in his weight category.

So far, three Indian boxers have qualified for the Games.

Apart from Vikas and Manoj, Shiva Thapa (56kg) has also made the cut, having booked his berth in the Asian qualifiers in March.