Rising talent Karan Vats kept his impressive run going as he entered the 40kg quarter-finals of the first ever Sub Junior Boys’ Boxing Nationals held at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak, Haryana on Thursday.

The Delhi boy, a silver medallist at the School Nationals last year, was dominant in his 5-0 win over Punjab’s Prabhakar Kalyan, underlining why he is one of the top future prospects in the Khelo India Scheme.

Delhi also had a winner in Rudra in 35kg where he edged Haryana’s Vishesh 3-2 in a tight bout. In the 43kg category, Delhi boy Deepanshu faced some early resistance but managed to overcome Pankaj Singh Bhandari for a 4-1 victory. Statemate Priyanshu Dedha also continued his sizzling run in the 46kg category, notching up a flawless 5-0 win over Jharkhand’s Rohit Kumar Yadav.

Advertisement

Local hope Divansh Shukla from Haryana was once again brilliant and was declared a winner by RSC in Round 3 over Meghalaya’s Pratik Boral in 40kg. In 43kg, Akshat of the same state pulled off a 5-0 win over Arunachal boxer Ado Ito. Punjab’s Nikhil proved too strong for Bengal’s Aman Das in his 5-0 victory in 46kg.

Goa too had winners in Laxman Toralkar in 35kg and Rupesh Bind in 43kg while Andhra Pradesh was represented in the winners’ column by Yerransetty Harivarhan in 70+ kg and Ranjana Rohith in 46kg.

Uttar Pradesh’s Gulfham also made it to the quarters in 35kg, joining Maharashtra’s Vedant Bengle in 40kg and Gopal Katta in 37kg. The latter put up a supremely confident performance against Neeraj of Jharkhand that resulted in a 5-0 win in Katta’s favour.

Advertisement

Assam, a powerhouse of boxing, was led into the last-eight by Ohidur Rahman, a 4-1 winner over Piyush Barman of Bengal in 35kg. Bengal got a win through Anshu Routh in 40kg where he beat Himachal’s Rishav Thakur 4-1.

33 teams and 326 boxers have participated in this seven-day tournament that will pick out the best of India’s rising boys pugilists, with the grand finale taking place on July 8.