PTI
BAKU
Commonwealth Games silver medallist L Devendro Singh (49 kg) fought his heart out but failed to clinch an Olympic berth losing in the semi-finals of the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament here.
With only two quota spots available in the 49 kg, it was end of the road for the gutsy Manipuri as he lost 1-2 to Spaniard Carmona Heredia Samuel in a closely fought encounter. Devendro however won India's third bronze medal in the competition after Manoj Kumar (64 kg) and Vikas Krishan (75 kg) also won bronze medals losing their respective semi-final bouts.
"My boy gave his everything, he gave one of his best performance but could not get the judges nod. But he was brilliant," chief coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu said.
Earlier, Vikas was declared medically unfit and had to concede his bout against Turkmenistan's Achilov Arslanbek while Manoj lost 0-3 to reigning European champion Pat McCormack of Britain. Manoj was satisfied with his performance but also did not forget to mention that it was a lonely fight for him without any sponsorship or government help.
"I am very happy with how I have performed because I had no backing from anybody. I am not in the TOP scheme neither do I have a sponsor. I have only got the support of my elder brother Rajesh. I am Class III staff of Indian Railways. I have not been promoted despite my achievements but I am glad that I came this far without anybody's support," the pain was palpable in Manoj's voice.
