Asian Boxing: Sakshi loses final spot on bout review

Sakshi had prevailed 3-2 in the regulation bout but the decision was challenged by the Kazakh team and eventually overturned; Mary Kom marches into final.

Indian boxer Sakshi Choudhary (54kg) has lost her final spot in the Asian Championships after her rival top-seeded Kazakh Dina Zholaman successfully challenged the narrow victory that the two-time youth World champion had clinched in the last-four stage.

Sakshi had prevailed 3-2 in the regulation bout but the decision was challenged by the Kazakh team and eventually overturned.

"Kazakhstan's Dina Zholaman defeated India's Sakshi Choudhary at the women's bantamweight (54kg)," the Asian Boxing Confederation announced.

Zholaman was declared winner in the official result sheet that came out at the end of the day's proceedings late on Thursday night.

"The Kazakh team sought a review of the third round, which it felt should have been scored in favour of their boxer. On review, the jury found their contention to be correct and overturned the original verdict," a source in the Indian contingent said.

The bout review system was introduced by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) in 2019.

"She is a bit upset but understands that the fight was very close. I told her that she is young and has to prepare for the 2024 Olympics. I was angry about how things panned out. Sakshi is much better now," Indian women's boxing's High Performance Director Raffaele Bergamasco said.

The team manager or the head coach of the losing boxer gets 15 minutes after the decision is announced to submit their protest and complete the paperwork for it in the next 30 minutes.

Decisions with scores 5-0 or 4-1 are not reviewable under this system.

Each team is allowed up to two failed reviews.

"If the Technical Delegate determines, after consulting the Bout Review Jury, that the protest should be allowed to proceed, the bout will be reviewed by the Jury – the  Observer, the Referee Evaluator and the Judge Evaluator," the AIBA had said.

In case of a protest claiming that an AIBA technical rule was violated by the referee, the aggrieved team has to specify the breach, the round in which it allegedly took place, and how it affected the final result.

The jury's decision must be unanimous and will be final.

With this, Indian women boxers' presence in the finals has been reduced to four.

Six-time World champion M C Mary Kom (51kg), Lalbuatsaihi (64kg), Pooja Rani (75kg) and Anupama (+81kg) entered the finals after winning their respective bouts on Thursday.

Of these, Pooja got a walkover after her opponent pulled out.