"Colour of medal could have been better": Indian boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin on bronze at Boxing World C'ship

By Vivek Prabhakar Singh

New Delhi [India], May 16 : Indian boxer Mohammad Hussamuddin secured a bronze medal at the IBA Men's World Boxing Championship 2023 last month but he feels the colour of the medal could have been better under different circumstances.

Due to a knee injury, he suffered in the quarter-finals, Hussamuddin had to give a walkover and settle for bronze in his debut World Championships campaign.

"Very happy to win a medal in World Championship but the colour of the medal could have been better...I am happy that I won a medal in my first championship," the two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist told ANI.

"This time there were high expectations. My performance was good in all the bouts but I could not play the semifinal bout. It was a proud feeling but at the same time if the national anthem would have played, it would have been a really proud moment. There was a disappointment inside that due to injury what could have happened did not happen but still I was happy to win a medal," Hussamuddin added.

Hussamuddin has laid out a plan for the upcoming days and he is looking to overcome the shortcomings he faced in the last tournament.

"I will take a rest of 10 days and start preparation. I will go back to camp and whatever shortcomings were there, we would like to tackle. I thank BFI and SAI for their support. In every aspect we need. They never say no to anything," he said.

" This is the first time that India won three medals. Next time we would like to do better. I would say that keep working hard. Hard work will never go to waste. Today or tomorrow it will pay off," Hussamuddin added.