Led by India’s frontline youth boxers Vijay Deep and Bhavesh Khattimnani, nine Services participants ensured almost a whitewash by securing final berths in the 3rd Youth Boxing Nationals in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand on Wednesday.
Bhavesh Khattinmnani, Youth world bronze medallist in 2018, ousted local boxer Sanjay Kumar, displaying a lethal attack and sealing the bout in his favour with a unanimous 5:0 win. He will next take on Haryana’s Ankit in the 52kg summit clash.
Fellow SSCB boxer, Vijay Deep, a bronze medallist at the Golden Glove Boxing Championships in Serbia did not have much to toil, as his opponent faced a round 1 exit.
Satender Sindh failed to reach the final after losing to Harsh Gill (91kg) from Haryana in a split verdict.
Haryana stands second in position with seven of their boxers cruising into the finals while two boxers from Delhi and one each from Assam and Uttar Pradesh also have assured berths in the summit clash.
Assam’s Bullen Buragohain (56kg) advanced to the finals after a thrilling encounter against Chandigarh’s Parveen Singh with a split verdict of 4:1 from the judges.
In the women’s category, Haryana continued their dominion with as many as seven boxers guaranteeing finals berth.
However, it was the performance of the young boxers from Rajasthan that stole the show as five of them qualified for the finals.