Sarita Devi refused her boxing bronze medal: All you need to know

India's boxer Sarita Devi refused to accept her bronze medal at Asian Games 2014.

Why did Sarita Devi refuse to accept her medal?

• The opening round of the semifinal was a 50-50 affair but later on things changed as the game further proceeded.
• The Korean competitor started holding more and took more of a battering from Sarita.
• Later, Sarita unleashed a series of hooks and jabs forcing the referee to break the bout twice.
• During the one-sided fight, Sarita simply pummelled her rival with her flurry of quicksilver blows - at times raining four to her rival's one.
• Her punches were connecting and the Korean was clearly hurt.
• But the referee refused to give the Korean the count.
• And at the end of the fourth round, the referee eventually raised Park's hand as the winner.
• Sarita was clearly the better of the two pugilists but the judges thought otherwise.
• Sarita Devi was shocked and stepped out of the ring without saying anything.
• Sarita appeared to be a clear winner in the bout, dominating the proceedings in such a way that Park barely managed to stand the assault.
• The verdict of the judges prompted her to lodge a protest. However, the appeal was rejected.

What happened at the prize giving ceremony?

• After losing the appeal against the judges' decision Sarita tearfully made her way to the medal ceremony.
• Crying bitterly on the podium, Sarita first refused to wear the medal before handing it over to Park.
• Then she shared an emotional hug with the home boxer.
• Sarita, the former Asian and world champion after hugging Park left the ceremony.

What did Sarita say?

• "They could have just told me that she will win at any cost. I would not have turned up for the fight," Sarita Devi said after the match.
• "I know that the decision cannot be reversed now. But I request all those who run the sport to ensure that such a thing does not happen again. Please don't play with the career of players who work so hard," she added.

She is not alone there are more in the list

• This is not the only case in the 2014 Asian games.
• Another Indian boxer, L Devendro Singh (49kg)also faced the same situation with his South Korean competitor.
• A similar fate awaited Mongolian boxer Tugstsogt Nyambayar against Korea's Sangmyeong Ham in Men's Bantam weight quarterfinal.
• Both Mongolia and India protested against the decision, but seemed to have happened in all the cases.