Visakhapatnam: Three time Asian champion Shiva Thapa and silver madralist L. Devendro Singh made winning starts, seeing out opponents on the first day of the National men’s Boxing Championships on Wednesday. As many as 309 boxers from 26 different teams are set to compete in the second edition of the mega event.
Shiva, who had won a gold medal even in the inaugural edition of the Championship representing Assam, defeated Tripura’s Naveen Kumar to progress to the second round in the lightweight (60kg) category.
This is the biggest domestic tournament for us and will give many of the upcoming boxers immense exposure. This will also be a good opportunity for all of us to reflect on our performances,” said Shiva.
“Each tournament is important to me and I will look to replicate my gold winning performance from last year,” he added happy with the win.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games medalist Manipur’s Devendro put aside Kumar Beyong of Arunachal Pradesh in his first match of the flyweight (52kg) category. The 25-year-old who won a silver medal in the previous edition will aim to add the elusive gold medal this year.
K Shyam Kumar representing Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), defeated H P Kumar Meitei of Manipur in the first round of the lightweight (49kg) category.
Results:
49kg: Phurba Sherpa (SKM) bt Nikhil Raj (KER) 4-1; Neeraj Swami (DEL) bt Parveen Kumar (UP) 5-0; Pardeep Sharma (J&K) bt Deepak (SSCB) KO; Faijan Ansari (GUJ) bt Deepak Kumar (KAR) 4;1; NT Lalbiakkima (MIZ) bt Godak Ram (ARU) 5-0; S Chalapathi (TN) bt Pankaj Saini (AIP) WO; Karan Rupini (TRI) bt Ram Majhi (ORI) WO; Harish (HAR) bt Ninesing Kharlor (MEG) 5-0; B Deepak (TEL) bt Rishi Kumar (RAJ) 5-0; Vipin Kumar (CHD) bt Vinod Kumar (CHT) 5-0; Ramesh Kumar (BIH) bt Thoiba (NAG) 4-1; K Shyam Kumar (RSPB) bt HP Kumar (MAN) 5-0; Himanshu Sharma (PUN) bt Anup Prasad (GOA) RSC 3rd; K Karthik (AP) bt Shivaji More (MAH) 3-2.
52kg: Laldinwaima (MIZ) bt Umesh Chavan (GOA) (4-0); Gaurav Solanki (SSCB) bt Chetan Singh (RAJ) 5-0; Salman Sheikh (RSPB) bt Anil Rokka (MP) 5-0; Vijay Arora (JHA) bt P Appala Raju (AP) 5-0; L. Devendra Singh (MAN) bt Kumar Beyong (ARU) 5-0; Vinod Tanwar (HAR) bt Arvind Kumar (UTK) 5-0; Athul raj (KER) bt Kalai Selvan (POND) 4-1; Deepak (CHD) bt Manjit Kr. Shaw (WB) 4-0; Raja Sinha (KAR) bt Aditya Kumar (BIH) WO;
56kg: Joyce (KAR) bt Tahir Shaikh (GUJ); Sukraj Rai (SKM) bt Atul Davas (3-2).