Silver medal for Anamika and Anupama in Strandja Memorial Tournament

Indian boxers Anamika (50kg) and Anupama (81kg) settled for silver medals after losing their final bouts at the Strandja Memorial tournament here on Sunday. Defending national champion Anamika went down in a split decision 1-4 against China’s Hui Meiyi in the lightweight final. Anupama, on the other hand, was defeated by Australia’s Emma Sui Greentree by a 5-0 unanimous decision on technical merit. Anamika started aggressively but could not break Meiyi’s strong defence.

The Chinese player won the first round with a unanimous decision. Anamika performed better in the second round than in the first round. Anamika was the better boxer in the final round. She landed several punches on the Chinese and four of the five judges gave the verdict in her favour, but it was too late. In the light heavyweight final, Greentree did not allow Anupama to find any momentum and dominated from the start to register an easy win. The result was predictable considering the huge difference between the two boxers. Former Indian boxing’s High Performance Director and now Australia’s national boxing team head coach Santiago Nieva could be seen celebrating Greentree’s victory.