Haryana boxers gave a stellar display in the ring clinching 18 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze medals in boxing which concluded at the Khelo India Youth Games, here at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, in Balewadi on Saturday. Hosts Maharashtra, the overall table topper, clinched nine gold, three silver and 12 bronze medals.
On the final day of boxing, Haryana won gold medals in 56kg, 64kg, 69kg, 81kg and 91kg in men’s category while the women won yellow metal in 48kg, 51kg, 60kg, 64kg and 75kg categories.
The gold rush began for Haryana with Akash defeating state mate Mohit 5-0 in the 64kg men’s final, but not before the organisers faced some glitches due to cable and lighting issues. The giant scoreboard did not work in the initial bouts after the competition was overnight moved to the badminton hall to facilitate live broadcast.
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Mohit, who had won a silver medal at the youth national boxing championship, looked off colour right from the start and could hardly put up a fight against Akash in the ring.
Haryana’s second gold medal came in the 64kg women’s category, where Asian Youth Boxing Championship gold medallist Manisha dominated the proceedings from round one to overcome Harpreet Kaur of Punjab 5-0.
{{/usCountry}}Haryana’s second gold medal came in the 64kg women’s category, where Asian Youth Boxing Championship gold medallist Manisha dominated the proceedings from round one to overcome Harpreet Kaur of Punjab 5-0.
{{/usCountry}}There was another upset in the girls’ category when Haryana’s national bronze medalist Sapna defeated World Youth bronze medalist Astha Pahawa (UP) in a close 3-2 fight in 75kg.
Mohit grabbed the third gold for Haryana beating statemate Sanjay 3-2.
In the men’s 75kg weight category, Nikhil Dubey of Maharashtra who was facing his friend Nitin Kumar from the Army Sports Institute (ASI), Pune, won 4-1. “We practice together at ASI. He (Nitin) knows my style of playing so it was a tough bout,” said Dubey.