Indian boxing coach Shiv Singh questioned the referee's decision to award standing counts against his wards, Sarita Devi and Saweety Boora, in the ongoing World Championships but refused to term it the reason for their losses.
Former world champion Sarita, who lost a close bout in 60kg against Kellie Harrington of Ireland in a 3-2 split decision on Sunday, faced a standing count in the third round while Saweety endured the same situation in the second round of her 75kg bout against Elzbieta Wojcik of Poland.
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Saweety, a silver medal winner in 81kg in 2014 World Championships, lost her bout 5-0.
Singh said both Sarita and Saweety fell down not from the punches of their opponents and wondered how standing counts were done against them.
"Sarita slipped after her legs entangled with those of her opponent and it was not from a punch. In Saweety's case, she was pulled down. It was not from a point scoring punch," the coach told reporters.
"In case of Saweety, the referee was on the blind side (and so did not see it) when she fell down but still gave a standing count. In case of Sarita, the referee saw it (how Sarita fell after entangling with her opponent) but he still went for a standing count against her," he added.
Asked if the standing counts led to the loss of both Sarita and Saweety, he said, "I am not saying that (standing counts led to the losses). Win and loss are part and parcel of boxing. But it is the subjective decisions of the judges. Standing counts can give pressure to judges (to give points in favour of the other boxer)."
Shiv also added that he would not know "why these kind of things were happening to Sarita", who was banned by AIBA for one year in 2014 for refusing to accept her bronze medal during the victory ceremony at the Incheon Asian Games.
On Sunday, Sarita also questioned the standing count against her while terming the decision of the judges "ulta (opposite)".
The 36-year-old Sarita, however, said that she will accept the decision as she does not want another ban.
"It was not a standing count. My opponent was a southpaw and her legs got entangled in between mine and I slipped and fell," she had said.
"I am not happy with the decision (of the judges). The decision has gone ulta (opposite), I thought I had the upper hand in all the three rounds. But what do I do, I was banned for one year after the 2014 Asian Games controversy. So, I cannot say anything now," the 2006 edition gold medallist had said.