Northern Ireland, India shine in boxing
Northern Ireland and India won three gold medals each in the boxing competition of the 2010 Commonwealth Games at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Paddy Barnes, Patrick Gallagher and Eamonn O'Kane won their respective bouts to lead Northern Ireland to its best ever finish in the Commonwealth Games boxing tournament.
Barnes, the reigning European champion, defeated defending champion Jafet Uutoni of Namibia 8-4 in the final of the light flyweight division.
"I always felt I had the fight under control. I took the foot of the pedal a bit in the second round and he caught me with a few stupid shots but even when the coaches told me I was only one up I knew what I could do and he wasn’t getting past my tight defence,"
said Barnes, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Gallagher defeated England's Callum Smith 11-6 in the welterweight final while O'Kane demolished another Englishman Anthony Ogogo 16-4 in their middleweight showdown.
Northern Ireland also took home two silver medals courtesy of light heavyweight Thomas McCarthy and heavyweight Steven Ward.
The 19-year-old McCarthy bowed to Scotland's Callum Johnson 8-1 while Ward was stopped by England's Simon Vallily in the first round of their bout.
Vallily's gold medal was England's second of the night following Thomas Stalker's 11-3 victory over Scotland's Josh Taylor in the lightweight final.
Indian boxers also enjoyed a productive day, winning all three of their final bouts.
Suranjoy Singh gave the hosts an ideal start when he was awarded a walkover victory over Kenya's Benson Njangiru in the flyweight division.
Manoj Kumar secured India's second gold of the night when he dominated England's Bradley Saunders 12-2 in their light welterweight showdown. The promising fighter took a 4-1 lead after the first round and dictated the tempo the rest of the way.
Paramjeet Samota made it 3-for-3 for the host nation when he beat Trinidad and Tobago's Tariq Abdul Haqq in the super heavyweight final. The former wrestler posted a 5-1 victory as India ended the day on a high note.
Sharing the spotlight with Northern Ireland and Indian boxers was Sri Lankan Manju Wanniarachchi, who gave the island nation its first Commonwealth Games boxing gold in 72 years.
The 30-year-old factory worker defeated Welsh teenager Sean McGoldrick via count-back in the final of the bantamweight division. A count-back was needed after the fight ended in a 7-7 draw.
"It's a great victory for us after 72 years. It means so much for boxing in Sri Lanka. This is one of the greatest victories of all time. It's as good as winning the cricket World Cup," said Wanniarachchi, who claimed Sri Lanka's first gold medal in the
quadrennial meet since the late Ansdale "Barney" Henricus achieved the feat in 1938.
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