World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik (64kg) lived up to the top billing as he continued with his menacing form along with 2017 Asian Championship bronze medallist Shiksha, leading the charge in the women’s category, as seven Indian boxers entered the finals at the ongoing 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday.
Sachin Siwach (56kg), Ankit Khatana (75kg), Vinod Tanwar (49kg) and Gaurav Chauhan (91kg) were the other four Indian male boxers to enter final while, S Kalaivani progressed into women’s (48kg) final.
Youth world champion, Siwach defeated Naqueebullah of Pakistan with a 5-0 verdict. Khatana also bagged the fight with a similar margin playing against Hossain Mohammad Arif of Pakistan.
Despite the crowd support, local boy Sushil Thapa, failed to produce any resistance as Tanwar marched into the final with a unanimous nod from the judges. Chauhan too defeated Arjun Sigu of Nepal with the scoreline of 5-0.
Earlier, Kaushik put up an offensive show right from the start of the fight and thoroughly dominated during his semi-final bout against Sri Lanka’s Ponnawila Vidanalage D to register a commanding 5-0 victory.
In the women’s category, young and aspiring boxer, Kalaivani, playing the first bout of the day, displayed good attacking prowess during her win over Bhutan’s Tandin Lhamo. Compatriot Siksha, the 2016 national champion outpunched her Sri Lankan opponent by a similar margin of 5-0.
Eight India boxer, including five men – Sparsh (52kg),Varinder (60kg),Vikash Krishan (69kg), Sachin (81kg) and Narender (+91kg) and, three women – Pinki Rani (51kg), Sonia Lather (57kg) and Manju Bamboriya (64kg), will be seen in action during their semi-final bouts on Sunday. Praveen (60kg) is already in the finals by virtue of the draw. The finals will be played on Monday.
