India's Vijender Kumar went down 5-8 to Cuban Emilio Correa Dayeaux in the semi-finals of the 75 kg category boxing competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing on Friday.
Dayeaux got off to a good start, taking two-point lead in the first round.
However, Vijender staged a strong fightback in the second round winning three points, while his Cuban opponent claimed two as the score read 4-3 after two rounds. The Indian drew a blank in the third round, while Dayeaux bagged three points to take a commanding 7-3 lead.
In the fourth and final round, Vijender put in all his efforts, but could not catch up with his opponent.
Vijender had already ensured the bronze medal for India when he beat Carlos Gongora of Ecuador 9-4 in the quarter-finals.
In the gold medal match Dayeaux will face Great Britain's James DeGale, who beat Darren John Sutherland 10:3 in the first semi-final
Beijing, Aug 22: The stars had ordained Olympics glory for him even before Vijender Singh landed his first punch against Cuba’s Emilio Correa Bayeaux. He lost the bout 8-5 but still marked the re-birth of the golden era in Indian boxing. It is the first time India will have three medals in its tally, a gargantuan step in the promotion of sports in the country.
The first round saw him trail by 2-0 as the aggressive Cuban seemed to be on top of his game. The second round saw him claw back a bit to 4-3 with some hard hitting jabs. The third round saw things going tough for him as the Cuban took a 7-3 lead. The last round saw a flurry of punches that took the total to 8-5 but it was too late to come back into the match.
After Abhinav Bindra's gold-winning feat during the first week of the sporting extravaganza, Vijender had put himself on course for a silver or gold medal on a historic day for Indian sports but it could not materialize.
India had won two Olympic medals in the 1952 Helsinki Games when the hockey team won gold medal and wrestler KD Jadhav won a bronze medal, a record which stood untouched for 56 long years.
Vijender made sure India got its first-ever boxing medal and also made it the first occasion that an Indian contingent will return home from an Olympic Games with more than two medals.
Vijender Singh made up for the disappointment of Akhil Kumar and Jitender Singh not making it to the medal round by ensuring at least the bronze.
