“I don’t know what’s the scoring system” - Vijender Singh reacts to Nishant Dev's exit fro Paris Olympics 2024
Indian boxer Nishant Dev’s Paris Olympics 2024 campaign ended as his quarter-final opponent Marco Verde from Mexico won the bout by a 4:1 split decision. Beijing Olympics bronze medalist boxer Vijender Singh was quick to react after the Indian boxer missed out on a medal.
After the results were out, there was a lot of outrage on social media, primarily from the Indian netizens, stating that the Indian boxer was robbed of a medal by poor judging.
“I don’t know what’s the scoring system but I think very close fight..he play so well..koi na bhai #NishantDev,” Vijender Singh posted on X.
The unseeded Indian boxer, making his debut at the Olympics, dominated the first round of the bout with four judges ruling him as the better boxer. Despite putting up a tough fight in the second round, three judges ruled in Verde’s favor.
Eventually, the Mexican came out on top with a 4:1 split decision as fatigue overtook Nishant in the last round. Notably, Nishant Dev had earlier defeated Marco Verde at the World Boxing Championships in 2021.
Nishant Dev made the cut for the Paris Olympics 2024 after defeating Vasile Cebotari from Moldova by 5-0 at the World Boxing Olympic Qualifiers in May. At Paris 2024, Nishant secured a win over Jose Rodriguez from Ecuador by a 3:2 split decision to reach quarters.
With Nishant Dev now five out of six Indian boxers knocked out of Paris Olympics 2024
Regrettably, five of the six Indian boxers have been knocked out of the Paris Olympics 2024. Nikhat Zareen, Amit Panghal, and Preeti Pawar bowed out of their respective bouts in Rond of 16 while Jaismine Lamboria lost in her Round of 32 bout.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 bronze medallist boxer Lovlina Borgohain is the lone Indian boxer fighting for a medal. She will take on Li Qian from China in the women’s 75 kg event in the quarter-final bout on Sunday, August 4.
Interestingly, Nishant Dev failed to win a medal at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China, after suffering a defeat to Sewon Okazawa from Japan in the men's 71 kg quarter-final bout.