<p>India’s much-hyped male boxers might have drawn a blank in the London Olympics but national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu on Thursday insisted that the country’s pugilists gave their “best performance” in the quadrennial sporting spectacle.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“We have fought brilliantly but have been denied a medal. We were unable to translate good performances into a medal but that does not take away the fact that the boys gave an excellent account of themselves,” Sandhu said. <br /><br />This was the biggest-ever boxing team to qualify from India for the Olympics. They were touted as strong medal contenders but all the seven, including Beijing Olympics bronze-medallist Vijender Singh (75kg), bowed out by the quarterfinal stage in London. It was left to the sole woman representative, MC Mary Kom (51kg), to get a bronze for Indian boxing.<br /><br />The Indians fell victim to some controversial officiating during the Games, marred by inconsistent scoring and refereeing. On L Devendro Singh (49kg), who lost his quarterfinal bout to Ireland’s Paddy Barnes, Sandhu said, “Devendro fought exceptionally well and his performance was also appreciated by pro-boxing star Amir Khan who was there in the stands. He said to us that our boy was very impressive.”</p>
<p>India’s much-hyped male boxers might have drawn a blank in the London Olympics but national coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu on Thursday insisted that the country’s pugilists gave their “best performance” in the quadrennial sporting spectacle.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“We have fought brilliantly but have been denied a medal. We were unable to translate good performances into a medal but that does not take away the fact that the boys gave an excellent account of themselves,” Sandhu said. <br /><br />This was the biggest-ever boxing team to qualify from India for the Olympics. They were touted as strong medal contenders but all the seven, including Beijing Olympics bronze-medallist Vijender Singh (75kg), bowed out by the quarterfinal stage in London. It was left to the sole woman representative, MC Mary Kom (51kg), to get a bronze for Indian boxing.<br /><br />The Indians fell victim to some controversial officiating during the Games, marred by inconsistent scoring and refereeing. On L Devendro Singh (49kg), who lost his quarterfinal bout to Ireland’s Paddy Barnes, Sandhu said, “Devendro fought exceptionally well and his performance was also appreciated by pro-boxing star Amir Khan who was there in the stands. He said to us that our boy was very impressive.”</p>