Fifth Super Cup: Madan, Thapa and Vikash in Finals

Day 4 the penultimate day of the ‘Super Cup’ and the Andheri Sports complex in Mumbai once again bore witness to a display of scintillating action as the semi-finals of the tournament unfolded. Officially known as the 5th Inter Zonal Men’s National Boxing Championship, the contest, with its newly introduced concept of zonal and inter zonal boxing, has become one of the premier boxing championships in India. The event also finds a strong support in the form of its sponsors, Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited – an organisation devoted towards strengthening the hold of boxing in the country.

The activity got underway with, what was expected to be a cracker of a contest in the light fly weight division. Sanjay Kolte of the IBF locked horns with L Devendro Singh of SSCB. Both boxers had a excellent run up to the semi-finals, but the day belonged to the services man. Devendro scored the first point with hard right cross in round 1 and continued to dominated Kolte in the second and third. The feisty boxer from Manipur made a place in the final with a 4:1 victory. He now takes on Pushkar Bhosle of West Zone (Green), who made his place in the last two by handing a 5:2 drubbing to Tara Chand of Center Zone (Yellow).

Madal Lal of the IBF team, the reigning national champion in the fly weight division, continued to ride his purple patch as he ousted Vijay Dobale of Maharashtra, without even letting him score a single point. The man from Haryana won on points 4:0.

In the bantam weight class, Shiva Thapa also representing the IBF team, gave his opponent Deva Naik of West Zone (Green) no change to score. The boxer from Assam showcased immaculate agility to win his bout by virtue of points 4:0. Thapa a bronze medallist at the 34th National Games, will now face Anil Kumar of East Zone (Green) in the finals.

Deepak Tanwar of North Zone (Yellow), fighting in the light welter weight category, also made his place in the finals by defeating Vikram Singh of West Zone (Yellow).

In the light heavy weight division, what started as a close encounter turned out to be a one sided affair in the end. Vikas Singh of IBF took on Satya Raju of the services. Both boxers kept a tight guard in the opening round and did not score. In the second though Vikas, a bronze medal winner at the National Championship last year, shifted gears to take a 2:1 lead. By the end of the third Vikas emerged victorious with a three point margin.

The Super Cup in its fifth year running has become a trad ion and melting pot of talent. Apart from providing a perfect platform for current champions to prove their mettle the tournament also allows the budding pugilists of the country to showcase their skills. Reiterating the significance of the this contest National Coach GS Sandhu said, “This tournament plays a crucial part in encouraging budding boxers and provides them the required exposure and a brilliant opportunity to hone their skills”.

Kindly visit www.indiaboxing.in for complete semi-final results and the final line up.

Warm RegardsBrig PK Muralidharan Raja, SM, VSMSecretary GeneralIndian Boxing Federation2nd April, 2011