Top Indian boxers Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), Sachin Siwach (57kg) and Ashish Kumar (75Kg) registered comfortable wins over their respective opponents to reach the pre-quarterfinals in the fourth Elite National Men’s Championships Baddi, Himachal Pradesh on Sunday.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Hussamuddin, representing Services, defeated Maharashtra’s Sashikant Yadav 5-0. With a cautious start in the first round, he picked up pace drawing from his experience to blank out his opponent with a solid display of power in the last two rounds.
World Youth Boxing 2016 Champion Siwach (57kg) exhibited a brilliant display of speed and power against Pralhad Panda of Goa. The Railways boxer, who won a bronze medal in 52 kg last year, dominated the bout right from the start, resulting in an RSC (Referee Stopped the Contest) verdict in round three of the contest.
In the middleweight category, 2019 Asian Championships silver medallist Ashish Kumar showed his class as he rained punches on his opponent Gnaneshwar Kurna of Telangana and the bout had to be abandoned in the second round. The local boxer enjoyed support from the students of Baddi University.
In a thrilling contest, Ayaan Parihar of Himachal Pradesh defeated Delhi’s Abhilash in an evenly contested welterweight bout. Both the boxers were relentless throughout the bout and were landing accurate blows at each other, though local boxer Ayan managed to get the final nod from the judges to win the contest in a 3-2 split verdict.
Railways Dinesh Dagar (69kg), President’s Cup Gold medallist in Indonesia early this year, won a one-sided bout as he out-punched Vinod Bhardwaj of Jammu & Kashmir in an unanimous verdict. Dinesh had finished as a runner-up last year and will look to win the title this time around.
Maharashtra’s Rohit Chavan (60 kg) also continued his winning run as he defeated Telangana’s Niraj Kumar. Rohit went all out from the start and his thunderous blows resulted in the referee’s intervention and the contest had to be stopped in the second round.
Chandigarh’s Shubham defeated Orissa’s Dipak Kumar 5-0 in the lightweight category. Shubham’s quick movement and speed proved too good for his opponent. Pankaj Chauhan (75kg), also from Chandigarh, defeated Manikant Shaw of West Bengal 5-0 to reach the pre-quarterfinals.
The finals of the fourth edition will be held on October 10.