The reigning world champion Saweety Boora (81kg) and 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine (60kg) punched their way to the title in the 7th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships at the GBU Indoor Stadium in Greater Noida.
Railway Sports Promotion Board continued their dominance in the tournament to secure their fourth team championship title in a row with eight medals that included five gold, one silver and two bronze.
With three gold medals, three silver and a bronze, Haryana secured the second position while All India Police finished third with a total of six medals, including one gold medal, two silver and three bronze, at the prestigious tournament which was organised by the Boxing Federation of India.
Saweety, representing Haryana, looked too strong against Lalfakmawii Ralte in the 81kg category as the boxer from Mizoram hardly posed a threat to her title defence. Saweety unleashed a flurry of punches to secure a comfortable 5-0 win.
However, it wasn’t as easy for Jaismine representing Services Sports Control Board. Punjab pugilist Simranjit Kaur Baatth took the bout down to the wire before it was declared 4-3 by the judges in favour of Jaismine.
Jaismine was later adjudged Best Boxer in the championship and Team Uttar Pradesh were given the Fair Play award. While UP’s Sonia won the Best Challenger award, Lalita of Rajasthan walked away as the Best Promising boxer.
Out of the six RSPB boxers who entered the final, five returned with gold medals for their team.
Anamika, the 50kg boxer from RSPB who had to settle for a silver last year, improved the colour of her medal in this edition with 5-0 victory over Haryana’s Kalpana.
Soon after Jyoti registered a facile 5-0 win over Shavinder Kaur Sidhu of AIP to bag the second medal for RSPB. Shiksha contesting for title in the 54kg weight category outclassed Sonia of Uttar Pradesh 5-0 for RSPB’s third medal.
Silver medallist from 2016 World Championships Sonia Lather spent some tough time inside the ring against SSCB’s Sakshi before claiming a close 4-3 verdict in her favour for 57kg category gold. RSPB’s defending champion Nupur retained her crown beating Haryana’s Ritika 5-0 in the 81+kg category.
It was only Nandini, RSPB’s 75kg boxer, who had to settle for a silver after she lost the bout to 2020 Tokyo Olympian Pooja Rani of Haryana 0-5 in a one-sided encounter.
Prachi joined Saweety and Pooja as Haryana’s third gold medallist after she registered a 5-0 victory over All India Police’s Sonu in the 63kg category.
In a battle between two Youth World Champions, Services Sports Control Board’s Arundhati Choudhary got the better of Ankushita Boro of Assam claiming a 5-0 victory margin. It was the second gold medal of SSCB in the tournament which witnessed thrilling competition in the presence of more than 300 boxers competing in 12 categories.
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