SONIPAT, July 22:
As many as 12 women boxers from Haryana and nine men from Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) progressed into the final of the 4th Youth National Championships here today.
SSCB’s Vishwanath Suresh (48kg) began the day’s proceedings with a dominant display of speed and sharpness as he comfortably defeated Punjab’s Gopi in a unanimous decision. He will take on Upendra Challa of Andhra Pradesh in the final bout.
Youth World Championship bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg) was up against Haryana’s Raman.
He continued his fine form and notched up another 5-0 win on his way to the final. He will square off against Himachal Pradesh’s Abhinav Katoch for the gold medal.
The remaining seven boxers from SSCB who made it to the final are Victor Singh (54kg), Vijay Singh (57kg), Rabichandra Singh (60kg), Sanathoi Meitei (63kg), Anjani Kumar (67kg), Jaydeep Rawat (71kg), Deepak (75kg).
In the women’s section, 2021 Youth World Champion Gitika (48kg) set the tone for Haryana with her convincing 5-0 win against Ragini Upadhyay of Uttar Pradesh in the first bout of the day.
Gitika played from distance and landed clear punches on her opponent throughout the three rounds. She will take on Uttarakhand’s Nivefita Karki in the final.
In the 52kg flyweight semi-final, Haryana’s Neeru Kharti faced tough resistance Uttar Pradesh’s Anchal Singh in the first round before adopting counter attacking strategy in the next two rounds to secure the favour of the judges and win 5-0.
The other 10 Haryana boxers to win their semi-final bouts are Tamanna (50kg), Neha (54kg), Preeti (57kg), Preeti Dahiya (60kg), Khushi (63kg), Muskan (66kg), Lashu Yadav (70kg), Saneha (75kg), Nidhi (81kg) and Deepika (+81kg).
The final bouts of both men and women categories will be played on Friday.
Haryana’s women’s team had won the title in the last Youth National in 2019 whereas the SSCB team grabbed the top honours in the men’s section.
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 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ongoing youth event will be followed by the third edition of Junior Boys National Championships and the fourth Junior Girls National Championships which are scheduled from July 26 to 31. (PTI)
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