Akash loses in semi-finals as India ends campaign with a bronze medal at AIBA's World Boxing Championships

New Delhi, November 5, 2021

Akash Kumar's bid for a place in the final was thwarted by Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan and India had to be content with only a bronze medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

In the semi-final, Akash suffered a 0-5 loss against Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan in the 54kg category last night.

It was India’s seventh medal at what is one of the world’s biggest boxing events as Akash joined Amit Panghal (silver in 2019), Vijender Singh (bronze 2009), Vikas Krishan (bronze 2011), Shiva Thapa (bronze 2015), Gaurav Bidhuri (bronze 2017) and Manish Kaushik (bronze 2019), who have won medals for the country at the World Championships in the past.

Akash started the bout aggressively as the first round saw both the boxers trading heavy blows. However, the Kazakh boxer looked in a better position with relentless punches which put the Indian on the backfoot at the end of a pulsating opening round.

The 20-year-old Akash, who was playing his maiden international tournament at an elite level, however, tried making a comeback in the second round and showcased some brilliant skills to overcome the fight that Sabyrkhan put up.

The boxer from Bhiwani gave it his all but somehow fell short when it came to matching up with the speed and accuracy as the southpaw Sabyrkhan capitalized on the momentum in the final round to complete victory by unanimous decision.

The gold medallists of each category will receive $100,000 while silver and bronze medallists will be given $50,000 and $25,000, respectively.

NNN