Services, Haryana get top honours in youth boxing meet
ROHTAK: Women boxers from Haryana made it six out of six gold medals, while in the men’s department, boxers from the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) reigned supreme winning nine out of their 10 clashes in the Youth National Boxing Championship here on Friday.
Haryana’s Joni (57-60 kg), having missed out on gold last year, won 5-0. “I had missed out on the World Youth Championships (WYC) as I lost in the finals last year. This year, I did not want a repeat and worked double as hard to emerge as the national champion. I have done my bit and hopefully I will get selected for international tournaments in the future,” the soft-spoken Joni said after winning the crown.
In the 57 kg category, WYC gold medallist Sakshi dominated the summit clash to emerge as the national champion. However, another participant from WYC Niharika Gonella (69-75 kg) who also won a silver in the Junior World Championships was toppled over by Astha Pahwa from UP in dominant fashion.
In the men’s category, boxers from SSCB had made their way to all ten weight category finals. But only Satender Singh (81 kg) faltered at the final hurdle as he couldn’t defend his crown against Daman and Diu’s Ronak. The SSCB stable had an easy day out otherwise, winning most of their clashes one-sidedly.
S. Barun Singh set the tone for his teammates after coming out 4-1 on top against Andhra’s R. Sai Kumar. Youth Asian Boxing Championship bronze medallist Ankit followed suit after he emerged triumphant against Haryana’s Akshay Kumar.
Another bronze medallist from the same championship, Akash overcame Haryana’s Mohit as the judges scored the bout 5-0 in his favour and ran away with top honours.
In the last clash of the day, in the super heavy weight category (+91 kg), Aman did not let the local lad Mohit breathe from the initial moments of the bout and kept landing his vicious combinations.