New Delhi: Asian Championships 2021 gold medalist Sanjeet (92kg) and 3 time National Champion Varinder Singh (60kg) put up a great show on day one to start their 7th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships campaign on a winning note.
Sanjeet who is representing SSCB was up against Karnataka’s Jagadheeshwaran J used his experience to write off his opponent in the first round itself. His aggressive approach and hard hitting punches was too difficult to handle for Jagadheeshwaran which ended the bout in a referee stopping the contest win in round one. Sanjeet will take on Chandigarh’s Sawan Gill in a round of 16 clash on Tuesday.
Varinder who is playing for RSPB (Railway Sports Promotion Board) started the bout cautiously against Amlesh Kumar of Bihar testing his opponent in the initial minute before launching some counter attacking punches to end the first round. High in confidence from his first two round exploits Varinder secured a comfortable 5-0 win. Varinder will now face Maharashtra’s Vishal Nupe in round of 32 clash on Sunday.
Rajasthan’s Harsh Choudhary (80kg) who represented India at the 2023 Men’s World Championships faced Shivam Saini of Uttar Pradesh in his tournament opener. He overpowered his opponent with his quick moments, strength and accurate punches . Harsh won the bout 5-0 by unanimous decision win. He will now be up against of Chander Dev Singh of Jammu & Kashmir in round of 16 clash of Tuesday.
Jashanpreet Singh (71kg) of Punjab registered a commanding win against Gujarat’s Mohammad Moin Shikh with the bout ending with a KO (knockout) in the second round.
Six-time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) who is representing Assam will begin his campaign from round of 32 stage after getting bye in his first round. He will face Himachal Pradesh’s Abhinash Jamwal on Monday.
Similarly World Championships silver medalist Amit Panghal (51kg) who is representing SSCB will be in action on Monday against Maharashtra’s Shivaji in the round of 32 clash.
A total of over 350 boxers across 13 weight categories are participating in the championships.
–IANS