Punjab's Kaur bags gold as India wrap up with nine medals; Rijiju lauds performance

New Delhi: Indian boxers won three gold medals, besides two silver and four bronze, at the recently concluded Cologne Boxing World Cup held in Koln, Germany.

Ace Indian pugilists Amit Panghal (flyweight 52kg), Manisha Moun (57 kg) and Olympic qualifier Simranjit Kaur Baath (60kg) clinched gold medals in their respective weight categories.

Sakshi Choudhary (57 kg), two-time AIBA Women's Youth World Champion and heavy weight boxer Satish Kumar (+91kg) won the silver medals.

Sonia Lather (57kg), Pooja Rani (75kg) Gaurav Solanki (57kg) and Mohamed Hussamudin (57kg) bagged bronze medals.

"Our Indian boys and girls have won nine medals including three gold, two silver and four bonze medals at the prestigious Cologne Boxing World Cup," Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju shared the news on his official Twitter handle on Sunday.

"India has achieved tremendous progress in boxing. My hearty congratulations to our star bvoxers!" he added.

Punjab State Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi congratulated the 25-year-old pugilist, hailing from Punjab, for showing swift footwork to beat the German opponent hands down with clear punches in the final.

Sodhi said India's AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships bronze medalist Simranjit Kaur also put up an impressive show in the semi-finals and competed against Maya Kleinhans in the title bout and won by a split decision taking the gold medal in the 60 kg category.

The minister said the state has already announced to bear the entire cost of Olympic preparations of the maiden women boxer of the state.

"This was an extraordinary achievement of the daughter of an ordinary family and every possible help would be provided from the state government to help her career move forward," Sodhi added.

Kaur was the first Punjabi woman boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games. She bagged a silver medal in the Asia-Oceania Qualifiers. (IANS)