A silver worth its weight in gold: Panghal ends 2nd at world championships

EKATERINBURG: Indian boxer Amit Panghal's phenomenal campaign in the men's world championships ended with a silver medal after he went down to Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in an intense 52kg category final here on Saturday

Panghal lost 0-5 but the scoreline was hardly a reflection of the fight he put on against the more fancied Zoirov

The second-seeded Panghal became the first Indian male boxer to finish second in the world event and the country achieved its best ever medal haul of two. Manish Kaushik (63kg) had signed off with a bronze earlier, after losing in the semifinals

Once again up against a taller and more muscular opponent, Panghal gave it his all but fell short when it came to connecting accurately. The Asian Games and Asian Championships gold-medallist nonetheless achieved a historic feat