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The Full Reaction to Amy Broadhurst’s controversial World Championships defeat

Joe O'Neill


Amy Broadhurst was denied a bronze medal this afternoon at the World Championships in New Delhi.

The Dundalk light welter was controversially beaten in the quarter-finals by Indian home favourite Simranjit Kaur on a split-decision.

Broadhurst looked to have won, at least, the first and third rounds in what was a dramatic fight. A potential knockdown was ruled a slip in the final stanza, moments before the Dealgan southpaw was given a bizarre point deduction for hitting with the inside of the glove.

The 21-year-old had indeed been warned twice but the deduction came following what looked to be a perfect shot.

However, the deduction had no effect on the final result with a 3-2 split in Simranjit’s favour changing to a 3-1 verdict with one drawn card.

Broadhurst was left in tears following the announcement of the decision, her third quarter-final defeat at World level having been beaten in the Last Eight of the 2013 World Juniors and 2015 World Youths.

The European U22 lightweight champion would later post an emotional message to social media.

Broadhurst described how “it’s a bitter pill to swallow. I dedicate my whole life to this sport, put it before everything in my life, and it just finds a way to kick you in the gut every time. Three world championships and losing out in the quarter-final three times.”

“That medal seemed so close to me, I honestly had such a good feeling about the fight today but when your boxing an Indian in India it’s always going to be tough to get a nod even if it’s close. I thought without the warning I could have got it but when I received the public warning for landing a clear shot I knew I wasn’t going to get it.”

“I know a lot of people thought I won the fight but we don’t stop here. I’m 21, I have 10 years to take over the world. I’m no.5 in the world in my first elite tournament. I know there are positives to take.”

“Thank you to everyone for the support, My club and everyone who sponsored me especially my main sponsor CTI Business Solutions. Together we will take over the world but it’s not meant to be now. Now it’s time for a break. It’s been a long year.”

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The IABA also took a measured response to the loss and, in their official press release, did not cry foul.

The release outlined how “the Dundalk southpaw, who won the first round on the unofficial cards by virtue of a stunning left alone, continued to impress in the second with simple but effective one-two combinations, Kaur also had her moments in the middle of the frame and toward the end of the stanza.”

“Broadhurst dropped the Indian orthodox with what looked like a legitimate left in the third but the ref ruled that a slip. The third person in the ring then gave Broadhurst a public warning for hitting with the inside of the glove moments later.”

“The European U/22 champion left the ring in tears after the verdict was announced. Magnificent performance from Broadhurst who was making her World Elite debut in New Delhi.”

Ireland Team Manager Bernard Dunne remained diplomatic.

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The in-depth scorecards for the fight were released, too, which did not make for nice reading.

The first round, Broadhurst’s clearest, was given to Simranjit by three of the judges.

The second, Simranjit’s best, went the way of the home fighter with four of the scorers.

Three of the five judges then gave Broadhurst the final round meaning, even without the point deduction, the Irishwoman lost out.

Algerian judge Sid Ali Mokretari, who scored all three rounds to Simranjit, had a particularly questionable view of the fight.

scorecards

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While Broadhurst and the IABA were reserved in their reaction, the Irish sports media was not.

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Indeed, sections of the Indian media disagreed with the result.

The Indian TV commentators, Patrick Kinghorn and Novy Kapadia, have come in for wide derision for their coverage of the tournament and their beyond reasonable backing of the home fighters. However, even they had believed Broadhurst had done enough despite the point deduction.

Kinghorn said, before the result was read out, that “my personal view was that Amy Broadhurst might just have done enough but we don’t know.”

In terms of the knockdown that wasn’t ruled, Kapadia said that “[Simranjit] slipped over here but it seemed like a punch,” with Kinghorn adding that “[Simranjit] might have been fortunate there.”

Following the unveiling of the scorecards, Kinghorn noted that “the scores there are extraordinary, the Algerian judge gives it to Simranjit by four points, you just cannot agree with that.”

“A very mixed bag on the scorecards. Poor old Amy Broadhurst is in tears.”

“It was very harsh on the Irish girl.”

Indian magazine Sportstar also questioned the validity of the victory

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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