Glasgow, July 29 (IANS) India boxing coach Hari Kishan Belwal expressed concern over the refereeing standards at the Commonwealth Games, saying close contests have been difficult for Indian boxers.
After Mandengbam Jadumani Singh assured the country of at least a bronze medal after outclassing Mwale Mwengo in the men’s 55kg quarterfinals in the competitions at the Commonwealth Games 2026, Belwal said the team’s strategy has been tailored to ensure leave no room for debatable decisions in close contests.
“Even the slightest margin has been proving costly here. That’s why I told Jadumani to go for complete dominance so there would be no room for doubt in the judges’ decision,” Belwal told IANS after Jadumani Singh’s quarterfinal victory.
“Then they know that India has already improved a lot in boxing. So wherever we have a close contest bout, they think of taking it. Because if it’s a one-sided bout, they can’t do it. Where it’s a close bout, they try to take it away,” he added.
Asked about on the tactical approach employed during the bout, Belwal explained that the coaching staff instructed Jadumani to execute a strict “score, move, score, move” strategy to neutralise his Zambian opponent Mwale Mwengo.
“When we saw his (Mwale Mwengo) previous bout, he opponent threw a round-continuous punch. So we had planned that we will not stand in front of him. If we stand, he will throw a punch. So score, move, score, move. This was our strategy.
“Our main target was to win the first round 5–0. After that, we planned to brief them for the next round. Regardless of our overall goal, our focus was to take the first round 5–0. We thought that securing a 5–0 win right away would allow us to take the next round 5–0 as well, leaving us mentally relaxed, just as we enjoyed the final round,” Belwal explained.
With the victory, Jadumani moved one step closer to the gold medal and strengthened India’s boxing campaign in Glasgow.
–IANS
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