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Indian boxers Shiva Thapa, Sanjeet and Mohammad Hussamuddin continued their brilliance at the 5th men’s National Boxing Championship. The trio stormed into the finals at the Inspire Institute of Sports in Bellary on Monday (September 20).
The reigning Asian champion boxer Sanjeet, representing the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), proved too strong for his opponent Harsh Kaushik from Delhi as he registered a convincing 5-0 win in the 92kg semi-final. Sanjeet will take on Haryana’s Naveen Kumar in the final. Naveen blanked Punjab boxer Raghav Chaudhary in his semi-final bout.
Hussamuddin, also an SSCB boxer, however, faced a tough challenge from the in-form youth world champion Sachin of Haryana. The defending champion, Hussamuddin, had to work hard before completing a 4-1 win in an intense 57kg semi-final bout. He will fight against Delhi’s Rohit Mor in the gold medal match.
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A host of SSCB boxers advanced into the finals including Deepak (51kg), Akash (54kg), Etash Khan Muhammed (60kg), Dalveer Singh Tomar (63.5kg) and Akash (67kg). Sumit (75kg), Sachin Kumar (80kg), Lakshya (86kg) and Narender (+92kg) also cemented their place in the summit clashes of their respective categories.
Boxer Shiva Thapa continues good run
Meanwhile, in the 63.5kg category, World Championships bronze medallist boxer Shiva Thapa recorded a dominating victory against Uttar Pradesh’s Abhisa by a unanimous margin. The experienced Assam boxer will now square off with SSCB’s Dalveer in the final.
Chandigarh’s Kuldeep Kumar (48kg) and Sagar (+92kg) also made their way into the finals with equally dominant victories. While Kuldeep Kumar outperformed Uttar Pradesh boxer Ravi Kumar by a unanimous margin, Sagar too comfortably defeated Maharashtra boxer Reynold Joseph by an RSC verdict.
Karnataka boxer Nishant Dev also booked a final berth in the 71kg category. He got the better of Haryana’s Yashpal with an easy 5-0 win.
Gold medal winners from the National Boxing Championships will earn themselves a chance to represent the country at the 2021 AIBA Elite Men’s World Boxing Championships. The Championships are scheduled to take place in Serbia from October 24 to November 6.
Also read: Women’s boxing nationals in October, decision on Olympians participation yet to be taken
