SONIPAT, Jul 21: Haryana’s women boxers ruled the roost at the 4th Youth Men’s and Women’s National Boxing Championship with as many as 11 of them reaching the semifinals.
Gitika (48kg) continued her impressive run in the tournament as she showed attacking prowess and maturity on her way to a 5-0 win over Delhi’s Sanjana in a last-eight bout. Gitika will now take on Ragini Upadhyay of Uttar Pradesh in the semi-final on Thursday.
In the light flyweight 50 kg quarter-finals, Haryana’s Tamanna started the proceedings against Chandigarh’s Kajal with a flurry of punches and dominated throughout before the referee stopped the contest (RSC) in the beginning of second round of the bout.
The remaining nine boxers from Haryana, who made it to semi-finals are Neeru (52kg), Neha (54kg), Preeti (57kg), Preeti Dahiya (60kg), Khushi (63kg), Lashu Yadav (70kg), Saneha (75kg), Nidhi (81kg) and Deepika (+81kg).
Chandigarh’s Neha (48kg) and Punjab’s Suvidha (50kg) also cruised into the semi-finals with victories against West Bengal’s Monika Mallick and Tamil Nadu’s Dilsad Begum respectively.
In the men’s section, the boxers from Services Sports Control Board, led by 2021 Youth World Championship bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg), dominated the proceedings as three of them sailed into the semi-finals. Other two Services’ boxers were Vishwanath Suresh and Victor Singh (54kg).
The semi-final bouts of both men and women will be played on Thursday.
With the presence of 479 boxers from across the country, the fourth edition of the championships is the first domestic boxing event taking place in India after more than a year break due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The on-going youth event will be followed by the third edition of Junior Boys National Championships and the fourth edition of Junior Girls National Championships which are scheduled from July 26 to 31.
The Youth and Junior National Championships provide a good opportunity for the boxers to showcase their skills as the top performers will be selected for the 2021 ASBC Youth and Junior Boxing Championships which is slated to take place in Dubai from August 17 to 31. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
