Boxing Elite National Championships: Rohit Tokas stuns Ashish Kumar to enter 75kg semi-finals, Shiva Thapa wins

Baddi: Rohit Tokas (75kg) stunned Asian Championships silver medallist Ashish Kumar to enter the semi-finals on the fifth day of the ongoing 4th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_4980611” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Shiva Thapa. AFP[/caption] Top boxers Sachin Siwach (57kg) and Shiva Thapa (63Kg) also comfortably sailed into the last four. Rohit from the Railways adopted a counter-attacking strategy against his taller opponent from Himachal. He succeeded in landing more punches to unsettle Ashish with a mix of close-range attack. Rohit landed more clear punches in the third round to register an upset 4-1 win over Ashish. “It is my first tournament in the new weight category and defeating a big player is a huge morale booster,” said Rohit, who had won the gold medal in the last edition. “I worked a lot on my strength and did a lot of weight training in my preparation ahead of the National. I am glad that my counter-attacking strategy worked today. Hopefully, I will win the gold medal again.” In other bouts, Shiva showed his composure and experience as he breezed past the challenge of Delhi’s Yogesh Tokas 4-0 in a one-sided bout. The World Championships bronze medallist will face Uttar Pradesh’s Abhishek Yadav in the semi-finals. 2016 World Youth Boxing Champion Sachin was fierce and aggressive and did not put a foot wrong in the 5-0 win over Michael Dominic of Telangana. The services boxer will take on Punjab’s Sagar Chand for a place in the finals on Wednesday. In the bantamweight category, 2018 Commonwealth game bronze medallist Mohammad Hussamuddin, representing Services, continued the winning spree, scripting a unanimous victory over Haryana’s Neeraj. Railways’ Naman Tanwar (91kg) blasted his way past Rajasthan’s Akhil Poonia 5-0 to ensure a semi-final berth. Tanwar will be up next against last year’s bronze medallist, Uttarakhand’s Kapil Pokhariya, who trounced Maharashtra’s Mrunal Zarekar 5-0 to reach the semis. Services boxer PL Prasad (52 kg) was no match for his opponent Sudeep Kumar from Uttar Pradesh who was defeated by a 5:0 verdict. Chandigarh’s Pankaj Chauhan (75kg) reached the semi-finals after getting a walkover in the quarter-final bout against Punjab’s Lakhbir Singh. He will face Haryana’s Ankit Khatana as he aims to secure his place in the final.