Sarita Devi dedicates gold medal to her late mother
India Open
Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: Six-time world champion Mary Kom is crowned the 51kg champion while Amit Panghal (52kg) won his third gold medal of the year and Shiva Thapa finished on top in 60kg at the second edition of the India Open International Boxing Tournament at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi AC Indoor Stadium here on Friday.
Apart from Shiva two more boxers from Assam today bagged gold medal in the competition and they are Jamuna Boro (54kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (75kg). Ankushita Boro and Lovlina Borgohain, two other local women boxers collected silver medals in the 64kg and 69kg respectively.
Mary displayed her experience to blow away the challenge of Vanlal Duati in a facile 5-0 win. This was the London Olympic bronze medallist’s second gold from the India Open to add to the 48kg gold she won last year in New Delhi.
Panghal smartly evaded the taller Sachin Siwach’s attacks in the first round to begin with a defensive approach. It was towards the end of the second round that the Asian Games gold medallist found his rhythm and started choosing the right moments to land his blows over the former world youth champion. Amit dominated the third round to make his way to the yellow metal following gold medals from the Strandja Cup and Asian Championships in 2019.
Much to the delight of the crowd, Shiva Thapa grabbed the 60kg gold in a revenge bout against 2018 champion Manish Kaushik a year after losing to him in the semi-finals. The Guwahati boy, who won a bronze at the continental event this year, was fierce and aggressive and did not put a foot wrong in the 5-0 demolition.
Later talking to the media Shiva said, “It was a good contest. Feeling nice to win a medal in front of the home crowd.”
Sarita Devi endured a tough fight from Simranjit Kaur to edge the World Championships bronze medallist for a 3-2 win. This was the former world champion’s first gold medal in any competition in three years following her victory at the South Asian Games in 2016 held in Shillong. The veteran pugilist today dedicated the prized medal to her mother whom she lost to cancer last year.
Local girl Jamuna Boro delivered a flurry of punches that earned her a perfect 5-0 win over Y Sandhyarani. Bhagyabati followed her winning the 75kg women title beating Pooja of India in a well-contested tie by 3-2.
World Championships bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain did not share the same fortunes despite vociferous cheers of support from the crowd. The 69kg exponent missed out on the gold in a tight contest where she ended up 2-3 to Italy’s Assunta Canfora. Her teammate Ankushtita Boro too lost the 64kg final bout against Francessa Amato, also from Italy, by 0-5. Pwilao Basumatary, the other boxer from Assam, who lost in the semi-final against Ankushita yesterday, collected bronze medal in the 64kg.
A day after knocking out World Championships silver medallist Sonia, Neeraj continued her sublime form to notch up a commanding 5-0 victory over Manisha, who had changed category from 54kg to 57kg. Asian Championships bronze medallist Ashish showed his prowess in 69kg to soar to a 4-1 win over compatriot Duryodhan Singh Negi.
There was no stopping Deepak in 49kg. Oozing confidence with every punch, the Asian Championships silver medallist knocked out Govind Kumar Sahani 5-0. Kavinder Singh Bisht had to settle for the silver in a 2-3 result in a hard-fought contest with 2015 Asian champion Chatchai Decha Butdee. In 64kg, Rohit Tokas suffered a knee twist in the first round and was forced to forfeit his bout to 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Colin Louis Richarno of Mauritius. Ashish Kumar’s hopes of adding the 75kg gold were dashed as he had to give a walkover to Philippines’s Eumir Felix Delos Santos due to a cut that he sustained on his forehead in the semi-finals.
Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and the President of Boxing Federation of India Ajay Singh were present in the award function and also handed over the medals to the winners.
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