Gheshlaghi meysam

World Olympic Boxing Qualifier: India started their campaign in the 1st Olympic qualifiers for boxing on a disappointing note as seasoned Deepak Bhoria suffered a narrow defeat in the Men's 51 kg in the opening round of the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Busto Arsizio, Italy on Sunday.

World Championships bronze medallist Deepak Bhoria suffered a setback as he went down to Nijat Huseynov of Azerbaijan in the first round, going down 2:3 to his opponent in the fourth bout of the day. Deepak won the bout 29-28 and 30-27 as per two judges but the other three judges handed the bout 28-29, 28-29 and 28-29 to his opponents.

The first two rounds saw a tight contest as both boxers went into attacking mode from the get-go. The young pugilist from Azerbaijan took full advantage of his pace and swift movements to make life difficult for Deepak in the ring. Deepak lost both the first and second rounds with an identical 2-3 scoreline. The Indian pugilist came all guns blazing in the final round and delivered some quality blows. He won the round 4-1 but it wasn't enough as Nijat won the bout 3-2 in a split decision verdict.