Boxer’s Silver Medal Gives Mongolia 10th Place
{mosimage}E.BADAR-UUGAN has made his country proud by winning a silver medal – missing the gold by a whisker – at the amateur boxing world championships in Chicago. His medal in the 54-kg weight section was the only success for Mongolia but it was enough to put it in the 10th place among the more than 100 countries participating.
E.BADAR-UUGAN has made his country proud by winning a silver medal – missing the gold by a whisker – at the amateur boxing world championships in Chicago. His medal in the 54-kg weight section was the only success for Mongolia but it was enough to put it in the 10th place among the more than 100 countries participating.
To take up from where we left off last week, Badar-Uugan faced Hector Manzannilla of Venezuela in the quarter finals. Both boxers seemed very self-conscious at the start but winning the first round 7:1 gave Badar-Uugan the confidence to go into the attack, taking chances in the process. This paid off as he won the second round also handsomely. The 8:2 margin was a clear indication of the Mongolian’s overall domination. An injury in the third round forced the Venezuelan to retire and Badar-Uugan was through to the semifinals.
There his opponent was Joseph Murray of England, a much more experienced boxer than any of his previous opponents. The first round ended 4:1 in favor of Badar-Uugan. The second was more defensive on both sides but Badar-Uugan was tactically superior and won it 3:1. The Englishman now changed his tactics. This helped him win the third round 4:3. Realizing that he had to go all out to clinch the match Murray opted for aggression in the final round but was over enthusiastic and was penalized by the referee, which gave the round 10:5 to Badar-Uugan. The final victory margin of 20:11 secured him a passage to the finals and ensured him a silver medal at least. The last Mongolian boxer to win a silver medal at such a prestigious event was Uitumen in 1997.
For the gold medal match Badar-Uugan faced a young and energetic Russian, Sergey Vodopyanov. His skills belie his 20 years. The first round of the match saw both boxers trying to get the measure of the other to decide on the appropriate tactics. There were few hard punches and it was more like testing the water before plunging in. The round finished 3:2 in favor of the Russian. In the next round Badar-Uugan was warned several times by the referee and the score at the end was 5:5.
The third round was evenly matched at 6:6 when referee gave a penalty against Badar-Uugan which put the Russian two points ahead. This was just what Mongolia did not need at the juncture, and one hopes Badar-Uugan would remember this lesson in future. Badar-Uugan tried to catch up but his opponent did not let go of his lead and actually ended the round 11:8
The bout was still open and the final round saw a tremendous effort by Badar-Uugan who was not yielding anything to the Russian. The score was 14:14 with less than a minute to go, and both boxers now went for the kill. The referees found the Russian a cleaner and stronger hitter and the round ended 16:14 to give Vodopyanov the gold. Badar-Uugan had come very near making history.
Spectators enjoyed this test of strength and skill between boxers almost evenly matched and supporters of both were vocal in their cheering. Badar-Uugan must be disappointed that he did not win the gold but his consolation would be that he won a silver for Mongolia after ten years. It was also the fourth medal for Mongolia at the world championships.
The Mongolian coach expressed his happiness and hoped Badar-Uugan would use his experience here to do even better in coming championships. Ranking second best among 55 boxers was no mean feat although the glory of the gold is something else.
In his post-match comments, the gold medalist said, “I’m very happy to be a World Champion. Last year wasn’t as successful. I’m very thankful to God to be here now. This fight was really, really hard because the longer the championships go on, the more tiring it gets. I know I won by not very many points so I am excited and looking forward to the future to make my victories more decisive.” On the other hand Badar-Uugan said, “I felt I had a fair chance but the referee’s decision upset me.”
The other Mongolian who saw action last week was U.Monkh-Erdene. He met Sayota Pichai of Thailand, who is a former Asian champion. Monkh-Erdene lost the first round 2:4 but almost managed to wipe away the deficit in the second. Pichai, however, showed his class in the final two rounds, winning the match convincingly 21:13. Victory would have given Monkh-Erdene a chance to compete at the Olympic Games, but he will still have chances at the coming international competitions.
The jinx of the host country of this world championship not winning a gold medal since 1999 was broken this time. The USA won two gold medals, in the 51-kg and the 69-kg weight sections.
Russia was placed first in the medals tally with 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. Italy ranked second with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals. The host country ranked third with 2 gold medals. Mongolia shared the 10th place with Venezuela and The Philippines.
Milan in Italy will host the next Amateur Boxing World championships in 2009. The other countries claiming the honor were South Korea , Cameroon, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uzbekistan. A total of Euro 1.3 million has been earmarked for the organization of the event.
Written by G.Ganbayar
The UB Post
