World Championships silver medallist Sonia Chahal (57kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) reigned supreme as Railways continued their dominance by clinching six gold medals at the Women’s National Boxing Championships at Kannur on Sunday.
2016 champion Chahal showed some stunning resilience to edge out Haryana’s youth world champion Sakshi 3-2 in a hard-fought final to add another gold. A year after earning silver, Bhagyabati Kachari stamped her authority in the 81kg final over Shaily Singh and did not have to break a sweat on her way to a gold medal.
Youth world Champion Jyoti was another boxer who starred from the Railways camp. Haryana’s Ritu Grewal was hardly any match for Jyoti in the 51kg final, where Jyoti cruised to a 5-0 win.
In 48kg, Monika was equally aggressive in her face-off with All India Police’s K Bina Devi and completed an effortless 5-0 victory to take the gold. One of the most exciting bouts of the day was between Railways’ Pwilao Basumatary and Assam’s Ankushita Boro for the 64kg title. The duo fought tooth and nail but the former former youth world champion 3-2 in the end.
The sixth gold for the Railways was brought by former Asian Championships silver medallist Pavitra (60kg) who continued her fine run on her comeback to get the title. In a tightly-contested bout, Pavitra was able to douse the fighting spirit of 2017 World Youth Champion Shashi Chopra from Haryana to register a 3-2 win.
All India Police had Kavita Chahal (81+kg) and Meenakumari Devi (54kg) clinching a gold each. Two-time World Championships bronze medallist Kavita Chahal was in no mood to relent and quickly clinched a 5-0 win over Haryana’s Anupama.
Meenakumari Devi successfully defended her gold medal even though the path was not easy. Railways’ Meenakshi provided some stiff resistance but Meenakumari was able to summon her attacking punches in the final round and complete a 4-1 triumph.
The solitary gold for Haryana was brought home by Nupur in 75kg, who went one better from last year. Nupur was able to end the inspiring run of giant-killer Indraja of Kerala to finish with a 4-1 win, much to the disappointment of the spectators.
Rajasthan was also put on the winners’ column by Lalita who bagged the 69kg gold by dint of a commanding 5-0 win over the Railways’ Meena Rani.
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