Indian pugilist Pinki Jangra lost a close semifinal bout against Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland to settle for the bronze in women’s 51kg category boxing at the 20th Commonwealth Games on Friday.
Pinki, who had beaten Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom in the national trials to make it to the Indian boxing squad, gave a valiant fight but could not pack enough punch against a taller opponent.
Pinki lost the bout 0-2 after the Kazakhstan judge gave a 38-38 score to the two boxers in the eight-minute four round contest. The other judges from Canada and Hungary gave 40-36 and 39-37 in favour of Walsh.
The 24-year-old from Haryana was trailing by just one point in an almost equally-fought first round and the gap widened to two points after the second.
In the second round, Pinki’s right jab landed on the face of her opponent who was thrown onto the ropes. Despite that, only one judge gave more points in favour of the Indian in the second round.
Pinki trailed by three points after the third round but the last round was the worst for the Indian as all the three judges went 10-9 in favour of Walsh.
After going down fighting, Pinky said she was not at her best on the day. “She (Walsh) was a good fighter. I made a few mistakes. I don’t feel like I performed at my best.
“She was taller than me and so I tried to hit her from below but it did not happen. I tried my best but I lost. I will have to find out the deficiencies in me with my coaches and improve upon them,” Pinki said.
“I hope I will come back stronger,” she added.
