Akhil lost due to poor planning: NIS expert

Patiala, Aug 19 (UNI) NIS senior boxing coach T L Gupta today said Akhil Kumar lost his bout to Moldovan Gojan Veaceslav in the quarterfinals of the 54 kg bantamweight category at the Beijing Olympics due to poor tactics, planning and technique.

''The Moldovan boxer was well-prepared to take on Akhil who fought without a semblance of any strategy,'' Gupta said while commenting on the fight which he watched on television.

Mr Gupta said ''basically, Akhil Kumar is a fly-weight boxer (48 kg) but switched over to the bantamweight category (54 kg) in 2004 Athens Olympics, of which he has little experience.'' ''Gojan Veaceslav, basically a flyweight boxer, defended himself very well and did not give room to Akhil to take on his punch,'' he added. ''On the contrary, Akhil just went on a meaningless rampage without scoring points which brought his downfall.'' He, however, complimented the manner in which the gutsy Akhil defeated the world champion from Russia, Sergey Vodopyanov in the pre-quarterfinal bout.

There was a pall of gloom at the NIS here, Akhil Kumar's second home, as people saw him crumbling, round-by-round in almost a one-sided bout, which he lost 3-10 in one of the most unpredictable bouts at the Beijing Olympics.

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