Chandigarh: The fancied boxers in both men and women sections moved up a rung on the opening day of the BFI’s second Junior National Boxing Championships with preliminary rounds underway at the University Hall in Chandigarh.
The day saw as many as 58 bouts in men’s six categories and 27 bouts in women’s four classes. It began with a bout in 46 kg being abandoned in the second round when S Kalarasan of Tamilnadu forced Rajasthan’s Harsh Chandra Meena’s coach to throw in the towel after his ward received a solid pounding from the Tamilnadu pugilist. Kalarasan was severe from the start and sent down combination punches on his Rajasthan opponent who managed to withstand the first round.
However, the second round proved to be his undoing and his coach judged the gravity of the situation to pull him out of contest before any major damage was caused.
With favourites having received byes in both sections sitting pretty awaiting the main draw, the boxers in preliminary rounds churned out some fantastic verdicts like the one between Daksh Chauhan of Chhattisgarh and Deepak of Chandigarh. The local lad was unlucky as he lost the 46 kg bout 2:3 in a neck and neck race, Chauhan clinching it in the last round.
Karan Mehar of Uttarakhand too received a spilt (3:2) decision when he overcame a tough opponent in Lalmuankima from Mizoram.
Most of the women category preliminary rounds ended with boxers winning on points with complete domination over their rivals. Haryana’s Rajni in 46 g defeated Talagana’s L. Nandithi Goud (5:0) while Aarti Jaglan, in 50 kg, beat Puja Pandey of Jharkhand 4:1. The brave Jharkhand boxer did well to land a few punches, impressing the judges for the solitary point.
The other winners among women in 46 kg included Maharashtra’s Yogita Pardeshi, Maharashtra, Sirisha Pithani of Andhra Pradesh, Ragini Upadhyay of UP, Priyanka Borah of Assam, Ajali
Chaudhary of Rajasthan, Aarti Chauhan of Goa, Pinky Devi of Manipur.