Indian boxers have traditionally been uncomfortable with the scoring at international meets. In fact, scoring has been so contentious all-round that to write the history of boxing at the Olympics is to track the reform brought about to deal with biased judges, drunk judges, shortsighted judges, incompetent judges. But even if the judges be perfect, it is crucial that they catch it when a punch connects.

As India’s boxing coach, Gurbax Singh Sandhu, said later, “the strategy was to play the computer.” So, like Akhil yesterday, Jitender played from a distance, so that connected punches could be spotted. Jitender built on a good first round, having taken it 4:1.

A boxing match is over in 11 minutes, with four rounds of 2 minutes each, with a minute’s rest between each round. So, once a big lead had been conceded, the Uzbek’s anxiety grew. He’d lunge at Jitender, who kept backing away. By bout’s end, there was a desperation in Doniyorov’s lunges, as he probably figured he needed to knock down Jitender to make up for his points deficit. This way he played further into Jitender’s gameplan. As the Bhiwani boy said later, “I was loose, he was tight.” Jitender now meets Russian Georgy Balakshin on August 20.

Vijender, also of Bhiwani, found it in himself to make revenge sound like a tribute. “I had lost to Chomphuphuang two months ago,” he said past the midnight hour. “I don’t lose to the same boxer twice.”

But like his teammates, he knows that boxing may just be on the verge of a tipping point in India. This is already India’s best performance at the Olympics.

... contd.