Chongatham, Rawat enter Youth National Boxing Championships last 16

Monika Mallick and Sandhya More have also progressed to the knockout rounds.

Youth World Championships bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongatham made his way into the men’s 51kg pre-quarterfinals stage on the second day of the Youth National Boxing Championships at Delhi Public School (DPS) in Sonipat on Monday.

Bishwamitra, representing Services Sports Control Board, outshined Manipur’s Jackson Pukhrambam 5-0 in the opening round match.  

The fourth edition of the Youth National boxing championships, which marked the return of domestic boxing action in India post Covid-19 pandemic, was inaugurated by Mr. Hemanta Kumar Kalita, Secretary General, Boxing Federation of India (BFI), in presence of other local dignitaries. Boxers paid tributes to late Mr RK Sacheti, BFI Executive Director, who passed away earlier this year and observed 2-minute silence. Tributes were also paid to Capt. Jitender Singh Mann, Founder of DPS, Sonipat.

BFI thanked DPS, Sonipat profusely for allowing them to conduct the championships and permitting players to stay at their campus.

Delhi boxers Himanshu Rawat and Lakshay also progressed into the next round with identical 5-0 victories in their respective categories. Playing in the flyweight 51kg, Himanshu defeated Jharkhand’s Bikas Sahis while Lakshay (57kg) also made light work of Jharkhand’s Ved Prakash Pandey to notch-up a convincing victory at the championships which has been witnessing participation of 300 men and 179 women boxers.

Meanwhile in the women’s section, West Bengal’s Monika Mallick and Maharashtra’s Sandhya More registered 5-0 victories in their respective women’s 50kg opening round matches. 

The second day of the Youth national Boxing championships witnessed 72 and 36 bouts being played in the men’s and women’s section respectively.

The ongoing Youth National Championships will go on till July 23 while the third edition of Junior Boys National Championships and the fourth edition of Junior Girls National Championships are scheduled from July 26 to 31. The tournament will act as the selection tournament as the boxers will be selected for the 2021 ASBC Youth & Junior Boxing Championships which is slated to take place in Dubai from August 17-31. 

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