Pune: Quite predictably, Services dominated the final of the men’s Nationals, clinching eight gold medals with Duryodhan Singh Negi, Manish Kaushik, Sanjeet and Satish Kumar registering dominant wins.
PL Prasad won a narrow bout by split decision against Maharashtra’s Ananta Chopade while Madan Lal opened Services’ account for the day, downing heavy favourite Gaurav Bidhuri in the final. Deepak, who won the light-fly event against Himanshu Sharma, was adjudged the best boxer of the tournament.
Runners-up Railways gave a good account of themselves with two gold meals and four silvers.
The day started Lal adding yet another National gold to his kitty with a 4:1 victory over world championship bronze medallist Bidhuri. It was a close-rung affair with both boxers trying to get up close and trying to surprise the opponent by throwing punches in short bursts.
Manish defended his title with ease, defeating Ankush Dahiya in a 5:0 verdict. Manish stamped his authority and experience from close range. Dahiya started in aggressive fashion but played into his opponent’s hands in the second and third rounds.
Rohit Tokas continued his dominant run and out-punched Abhishek Yadav in the final. Early on in the bout, a stinging hit from the robust Tokas saw Yadav backpedaling, and the latter never recovered.
Duryodhan’s bout with Dinesh saw the former set the pace and a vicious upper cut with his left saw the Railways boxer get a standing count. Duryodhan, towards the end of the second round winced in pain when he suspected that there was a elbow that landed on the back of his head.
The 33-year-old was adjudged victorious by unanimous decision.
Sanjeet and Arjuna Awardee winner Satish Kumar romped to easy 5:0 wins but the day ended with Prasad adding nationals another gold to his kitty.
Maharashtra’s Ananta Chopade competed ever so well against the more experienced Prasad, but the Services pugilist was awarded winner by a 3:2 split decision verdict. A desolate Chopade collapsed on his knees in tears but Prasad showed great spirit by consoling the 20-year-old.
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