Shiva Thapa, Mohammad Hussamuddin clinch gold medals as Services defend crown at boxing nationals

Hisar: Favourites Shiva Thapa and Mohammad Hussamuddin powered their way to remarkable victories and bagged gold medals in thee respective weight categories at the men’s National Boxing Championships here on Friday. Defending champions Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) topped the rankings with 10 medals. Record six-time Asian medallist Thapa of Assam had a pretty comfortable day at office as he defeated 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medallist Ankit Narwal of Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) to win by unanimous decision in the 63.5kg final. But SSCB pugilist Hussamuddin had to toil hard to prevail over 2016 World Youth champion Sachin of RSPB in the 57kg final. Having suffered defeat in last year’s final, the two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist showcased brilliant tenacity to emerge victorious on Friday with a 4-1 scoreline. Narender (+92), 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist, received a walkover in his final bout against 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sagar, who could not participate in the contest due to a minor injury. Alongside Hussamuddin and Narender, the pugilists of SSCB stole the show on the final day of the tournament as the team successfully defended its crown with a total of six gold, one silver, and three bronze medals. Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg), Sachin (54kg), Akash (67kg), and Sumit (75kg) were the team’s other gold medallists. RSPB, with two gold, three silver, and two bronze, and Punjab – one gold, two silver and six bronze – claimed the second and third positions respectively. Native boxers Abhimanyu Loura (80kg) and Naveen Kumar (92kg) capped off their brilliant campaigns with hard-fought wins that earned them gold in their respective categories. Abhimanyu, who had recorded a stunning victory against Tokyo Olympian Ashish Kumar in the quarterfinals, replicated grit and confidence in the final bout against Sahil of Chandigarh. The 2019 Asian Youth Championships bronze medallist faced tough competition from his opponent but utilised his technical ability and dynamic attacking prowess to seal a 4-1 win. Naveen, on the other hand, faced 2021 Asian champion Sanjeet of SSCB in what was a repeat of last year’s final in the competition, where the latter had prevailed. However, Naveen made sure that was not the case this year as he outpunched his opponent to secure a memorable 4-1 victory in a gripping encounter. The 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist Govind Sahani (48kg) and 2021 Asian bronze medallist Varinder Singh (60kg) defended their title and attained gold for RSPB. While Govind defeated Keisham Singh of Manipur with a 5-0 margin, Varinder won against Vijay Kumar of Punjab with the same scoreline. Punjab’s Kartik (86kg) and Karnataka’s Nishant Dev (71kg) also secured gold medals in their respective categories at the prestigious tournament, which had witnessed participation of 386 boxers in 13 weight categories. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.