Ajay Raina
JAMMU, Jan 14: Jammu and Kashmir boxer Harpal Singh today brought cheering moments for the State by securing the first ever-gold medal in the boxing at national level.
Singh crushed Sukhdeep of Railways by straight 3-0 sets in the 1st Elite Men National Boxing Championship at the rings of the Divisional Sports Complex, Nagpur, Maharashtra.
In the first round of 75 kg category, Harpal Singh suffered injury (cut) in his eye, but despite that, he remained stranded in the ring to write his name in the history of boxing game.
He continued to play with injury in his eye and smashed Sukhdeep in the first round by 29-28 points.
In the second and third rounds, Sukhdeep could not face the attacks of Harpal Singh and lost the game by 3-0. In all three rounds, Harpal registered win over Sukhdeep by 29-28 points.
Earlier in semis, Singh had crushed Naveen of DND in 75 kg category and entered into the finals of the 1st Elite Men National Boxing Championship.
Apart from winning gold medal in this prestigious championship, Harpal Singh was among four other boxers namely Pardeep Sharma, Dheeraj and Ashish Jasrotia, who qualified for the National Game of India to be held at Kerala from January 31 to February 14.
Talking to the EXCELSIOR over phone, Harpal Singh, son of a farmer namely Bhim Singh, posted as Hawaldar with Army’s 126 BSR at Satwari, said that it was a dream come true for him to make the Jammu and Kashmir proud in Boxing at National level.
He added that no boxer from Jammu and Kashmir had achieved this feat in the past and this medal moment will encourage the other budding boxers of the State to give their best on national and international levels.
“Whole credit of securing the gold medal for the Jammu and Kashmir goes to my coach Anil Kumar Wadhera, who trained me with full dedication and calibre”, he said, adding that “My family members, friends and colleagues in Army are also behind my success”.
President of Olympic Association Rangil Singh, President, J&K Boxing Association, Member Parliament (MP) Abdul Hamid Karra and general secretary of Olympic Association Ashutosh Sharma congratulated Harpal Singh and his coach Anil Kumar Wadhera telephonically for bringing laurels to Jammu and Kashmir by achieving this feat.
The J&K boxing squad has been led by Anil Kumar Wadhera, senior boxing coach, J&K State Sports Council and Dr Nirmolak Singh, general secretary, J&K Boxing Association.
The six-day long 1st Elite Men National Boxing Championship is being organized by Maharashtra Boxing Association under the aegis of Boxing India Federation at Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Asian Games bronze medallist Satish Kumar won the super heavyweight title while Olympian Sumit Sangwan also won gold in light-heavy category.
Services boxer Satish, who won a bronze in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, got a 3-0 verdict against Arun of Sikkim in the +91kg class final at the Divisional Sports Complex here.
Haryana’s Sangwan, who represented India in the 2012 London Olympics, got a technical knockout verdict against Geetanand of Himachal Pradesh to bag the gold in 81kg class.
Sangwan was also declared the best boxer of the championship while M Thomas of Manipur and P L Prashad of Karnataka were adjudged Best Challenger Boxer and Most Promising Boxer respectively.
Haryana dominated the championship, winning the Champions Trophy with a tally of four gold and 40 points. Services finished runners-up with 28 points. RSPB stood third with 28 points.
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