Guwahati, Dec 13:
Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (52kg) suffered a shock loss to settle for the silver medal but World bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa prevailed in a slightly ill-tempered final clash to pick up his first lightweight (60kg) National Championships gold medal here today.
The overall title went to the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), who ended with four gold, one silver and three bronze medals. The Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) finished second with two gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
Shiva, fighting with a bruised forehead after being head-butted in the quarterfinals, was aggression personified as he overpowered Haryana’s Asian Youth by silver-medallist Ankush Dahiya 5-0.
Shiva protected his injured forehead but did not lack in ferocity to outpunch the spirited but wayward Haryana teen and pick up the only gold medal for Assam in the Championships.
With Ankush continuously targeting Shiva’s wound, the Assam boxer pumped up the aggression in the second round resulting in a furious exchange. Ankush did not back down either making it a high-voltage showdown which had the crowd on its feet.
However, Devendro, a two-time Olympian and an Asian Championships silver-medallist as well, lost 0-5 to Chandigarh greenhorn Deepak Singh, who was competing in his maiden National Championships.
“There was slight pressure on me because the bout was against Devendro but I was confident about the hard work I had put in my training. I started boxing as a 12-year-old and this is my first national championships. (PTI)
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