Shiva Thapa clinch gold at 7th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships

Heavy favourites Amit Panghal (51kg) and Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) powered their way to impressive victories as they clinched gold medals while defending champions SSCB (Services Sports Control Board) maintained their dominance as they topped the rankings with 12 medals including 10 gold medals with 90 points at the 7th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships in Shillong.

The 2019 World Championships silver medalist, Amit Panghal navigated through the bout with ease. Amit who faced Anshul Punia of Chandigarh, dominated the final match of the 51kg category as he secured the gold medal with a unanimous 5-0 decision.

The record six time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa of Assam faced reigning world youth champion, Vanshaj of SSCB in his 63.5kg final. The previous editions gold medalist, Shiva continued his stellar run of performances as he secured a commanding victory with a flawless score of 5-0 to defend his title.

Contrastingly, the SSCB pugilist Jugnoo faced a challenging encounter against Vishal of Haryana in the 86kg final. In a closely fought battle, Jugnoo displayed both skill and composure in crucial moments of the game and he ultimately secured a 5-2 split decision win in his favour.

Continuing the series of victories, the 2021 Asian champion, Sanjeet(92kg) from SSCB faced Naveen Kumar of Haryana in what was a repeat of last year’s final in the competition where the latter had prevailed. However, Sanjeet ensured that was not the case this year as he outpunched his opponent to secure an impressive 5-0 win.

Alongside Amit, Jugnoo and Sanjeet the pugilists of SSCB took center stage on the tournament’s ultimate day. The team not only successfully defended their crown at the 7th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships but also secured an impressive total of ten gold and two silver medals. Barun Singh (48kg), Sachin (57kg), Akash (60kg),  Rajat (67kg), Akash (71kg), Deepak (75kg), Lakshya (80kg) were the team’s other gold medallists while Pawan (54kg) and Vanshaj (63.5kg) secured a silver each.

RSPB, with five silver and two bronze (41 points) and Haryana with two silver, two bronze (31 points) claimed second and third position respectively.

Jaipal Singh of Punjab faced off against Sagar, the 2022 Commonwealth games silver medalist in his 92+kg final. Engaged in a tightly contested match, Jaipal unleashed a flurry of swift and aggressive punches as he secured a knockout victory in the third round and created a huge upset.

Lalit who represents AIP (All India Police) faced Pawan of SSCB in the 54kg final. Lalit started off in a dominating fashion against Abhinash Jamwal but as the bout progressed, the boxer from SSCB staged a  remarkable comeback and made Lalit work hard for each point. The bout was closely contested throughout but Lalit maintained his composure in the pivotal moments of the game to get past his opponent in a 4-3 split decision win to secure the gold medal.

Apart from the medals, Akash Sangwan (71kg) from SSCB was also presented with the best boxer of the tournament award because of his exploits and consistency throughout the tournament.