Picture Credit: X
India’s Nishant Dev’s Olympic debut ended in a heartbreaking loss against Mexico’s second-seeded Marco Verde on Saturday, August 3. The unseeded Indian boxer fell just short of a medal after making an exit in the men’s 71kg quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics 2024.
Although, a victory in his quarterfinals clash would have assured him of a medal, but the result saw the judges award a win to his Mexican opponent by a 4:1 split decision. The 22-year-old Mexican was on a backfoot straight away by the Indian, who shocked with his strong jabs. The bout which saw the Indian pugilist dominate with his punches, saw former boxer Virender Singh, along with actor Randeep Hooda and several others in shock, questioning the scoring system at the Games.
The 2008 Olympic bronze medallist, Vijender Singh praised Nishant Dev for his valiant display, but also questioned the scoring system. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Singh wrote, “I don’t know what’s the scoring system, but I think very close fight… he played so well.. koi na bhai #NishantDev.”
Not only this, but actor Randeep Hooda also believed that Dev was robbed of a medal following his exit from the Games. “Nishant had won it. What’s this scoring? Robbed of the medal but won hearts. Sad!! Many more to go chore!!” Randeep Hooda wrote on X.
Apart from them, a lot of fans who watched Dev’s fight closely also felt the same that the Indian pugilist was robbed of a medal at the Games.
Check out how fans reacted to Nishant Dev’s heartbreaking loss at the Paris 2024
The 23-year-old Dev entered the final eight after a win over Ecuador’s Jose Rodriguez. The Indian youngster managed to win by a split decision to enter the quarterfinals of the Olympics after earlier getting a bye along with his compatriot Amit Panghal.
