From a Correspondent
Rohtak, July 8,
Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh continued to shine at the 1st ever Sub Junior Boys’ Boxing Nationals with as many as 6 boxers advancing to the finals of this prestigious national tournament held at the National Boxing Academy (NBA) here in Haryana on Sunday. Karan Vats of Delhi remains unstoppable as the 2018 Khelo India silver medallist and National Boxing Academy trainee is now one win away from the gold medal in 40kg following his 4-1 demolition of Chattisgarh’s Wasim Khan. He will take on Neeru of the Services, a 5-0 winner over Maharashtra’s Vedantbengle.
Rudra (35kg) and Deepanshu (43kg) ensured Delhi gets a chance to top the podium multiple times. While Rudra edged Rajasthan’s Dev Katariya 3-2, Deepanshu hardly broke a sweat in his 5-0 win over Bihar’s Rahul Kumar.
Standing between Rudra and the coveted gold medal is the Services’ Harsh, who dashed hopes of Uttarakhand’s Vishwas Mehra 5-0. Deepanshu would be put to a stern test by Goa’s Rupesh Bind, who showed ample fighting spirit to knock out the Services’ Rajan 3-2.
Chandigarh’s Aryan dominated Gopal Katta of Maharashtra 5-0 to keep their gold medal hopes alive. Services’ Nikhil Kumar, who defeated Mizoram’s LH Peihneisa 3-2, would be looking to give some stiff resistance to Aryan in the summit clash on Monday.
Nikhil (46kg) and Lovi (49kg) brought double delight for the state of Punjab. Nikhil remained sharp as ever to score a flawless 5-0 win over Arunachal’s Tadar Tadang. Lovi too won by an identical scoreline against Maharashtra’s Harshwardhan Wagh. While he gets to face the Services’ Vinay Viswakarma in the final, Nikhil will be up against Ranjana Rohith of Andhra Pradesh.
33 teams and 326 boxers have participated in this seven-day tournament.