CINDY NGAMBA had to be content with an Olympic bronze medal after she was beaten by Atheyna Bylon in the 75kg semi-final on Thursday night.
Ngamba lost the first round on all five scorecards but came back strongly in the second round. It looked like she might be in the final on Saturday when Bylon was deducted a point for holding a point in the third round.
However, the Panamanian still did enough to win 4-1 overall, ending Ngamba’s memorable tour of Parisien.
The 25-year-old, who was born in Cameroon but moved to the UK when she was 10, competed for the Refugee Olympic Team and the bronze medal she won after an impressive run to the semi-finals was their first medal.
There were boos around Roland Garros when the decision was announced, in Ngamba’s favour – but Bylon didn’t care as she danced around the ring to celebrate the result.
The big left-hander from Panama started well, holding the line for long against Ngamba, who tried to close the distance and attack in close. Ngamba threw a couple of right hands in his first attack but Bylon soon settled down.
Unsurprisingly, the judges thought she had won the first round but Ngamba emerged with renewed vigour in the second, sending the crowd into raptures as they chanted her name as she began to find more success. A sharp right hand with a minute left in the second round started a period of sustained pressure for Ngamba and four of the five judges had her winning the second round.
But the tide turned in the third round as Bylon began to pepper Ngamba with left-handed right hooks, one of which nearly sent the former Bolton University student down.
However, it looked like disaster struck for Panama when the referee deducted points from Bylon for holding the ball. She was now in a difficult position and was sent off again with just 30 seconds left.
But even with that reasoning, Bylon still claims to have split the decision. Meanwhile, Ngamba will return home thinking she made history for her team in Paris.
In the previous fight, a shocker appeared to have occurred when Australia’s Caitlin Parker won the first round against China’s Li Qian according to all five judges.
However, she let it slip in the second and third rounds as Li took over, landing straight right hands over and over again. The rounds were very competitive but she did enough in the eyes of the judges to win a unanimous decision, setting up a showdown with Bylon in the final.
Earlier, the men’s 57kg final was decided. First, Abdulmalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan, a 1-0 professional, defeated Charlie Senior of Australia 5-0. Then, Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan also secured himself at least a silver medal with a 4-1 victory over Javier Ibanez Diaz of Bulgaria.
