Haryana boxers dominate as 11 women storm into semis

New Delhi: Reigning world champion Gitika led the way as 11 Haryana boxers progressed to the semifinals of the Youth Men's and Women's National Championships at the Delhi Public School (DPS) in Sonipat on Wednesday.

Gitika (48kg) continued her impressive run as she showed attacking prowess and maturity on her way to a 5-0 win over Delhi's Sanjana in the last-eight bout. Gitika will now square off against Ragini Upadhyay of Uttar Pradesh in the semifinal on Thursday.

In the light flyweight 50 kg quarterfinals, Haryana's Tamanna started the proceedings against Chandigarh's Kajal with a flurry of punches and dominated throughout before the referee stopped the contest (RSC) and declared the former as the winner in the beginning of the second round of the bout.

The remaining nine boxers from Haryana who made it to the semifinal are Neeru (52kg), Neha (54kg), Preeti (57kg), Preeti Dahiya (60kg), Khushi (63kg), Lashu Yadav (70kg), Saneha (75kg), Nidhi (81kg) and Deepika (+81kg).

Chandigarh's Neha (48kg) and Punjab's Suvidha (50kg) also cruised into the semifinals with victories against West Bengal's Monika Mallick and Tamil Nadu's Dilsad Begum respectively.

Meanwhile in the men's category, the boxers from Services, led by 2021 Youth World Championship bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg) dominated the proceedings as three of them sailed into the semifinals. The other two Services boxers were Vishwanath Suresh and Victor Singh (54kg).

The semifinal bouts in both men's and women's sections will be played on Thursday.

With the presence of 479 boxers from across the country, the fourth edition of the Youth Men's and Women's National championships is the first domestic boxing event taking place in India after more than a year's break due to Covid-19 pandemic.