National Boxing Championships: Gaurav Bidhuri bows out after first-round loss to Haryana's Sachin

Bellary: Former world championships bronze-winner Gaurav Bidhuri (57kg) bowed out after a first-round loss in the men’s National Boxing Championships on Friday, upstaged by Haryana’s Sachin. Sachin was up against one of the strongest contenders for the title in Gaurav (Railways Sports Promotion Board) and came out triumphant by a 4-1 margin. Another Haryana pugilist and South Asian Games champion Ankit Khatana made his way into the 75kg quarter-finals after he out-punched Himachal Pradesh’s Dharm Pal in unanimous victory. Telangana’s Savio Dominic Michael (54kg) and Goa’s Ashok Patil (67kg) too progressed to the last-eight stage with identical 4-1 victories. While Savio defeated Jharkhand’s Krishna Jora, Ashok Patil got the better of Himachal Pradesh’s Mohan Chander. Chandigarh’s Kuldeep Kumar (48kg) and Sachin were among the other boxers to make progress on the third day of the Championships. Kuldeep booked a berth in the quarter-finals after an easy 4-0 win over Rajasthan’s Sushil Sahran. In the 75kg category, Maharashtra pugilist Nikhil Dubey continued his excellent run in the tournament and sailed into the quarter-finals. He beat Telangana’s Venu Mandala with ‘RSC’ (Referee Stops the Contest) verdict in a last-16 bout.