Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh boxers dominated the ring on Thursday, confirming two bronze and atleast four silver medals for the home side to match their feat with boxing powerhouse Haryana, even as eight pugilists from the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) boxers stormed into the finals of the 5th Junior Boys National Championships being held at the Don Bosco College here.
Techi Jacky (46kg), Gaykie Rie (52kg), Nenthok Hodong (54kg) and Tagio Liyak (57kg) registered contrasting victories to march into the summit clashes of their respective weight categories even as Loma Ring (50kg) and Tara Sonia (60kg) endured heartbreaking losses to eventually settle for the bronze medals.
Vinod Kumar, the junior national team coach, tasked with selecting the Asian junior championship team, feels that the Arunachal boxers have come of age and are no less than their counterparts from sports powerhouses like Haryana and Punjab.
To put things in perspective, Arunachal and Haryana boasted an identical number of boxers not only in the semifinals, but also in the finals.
“This is for the first time six Arunachal boxers are in medal contention, which in itself is a very big thing. I have worked with a lot of boxers from the Northeast, and from my experience I can say that they are really hard working guys and are blessed with a perfect physique for contact sports. They have won close bouts during this tournament, and some have registered one-sided victories over opponents from superior boxing teams,” Kumar told EastMojo.
The gold medallists from the ongoing championships will be selected for next month’s Asian Junior Boxing Championships.
With all eyes on the home boys, Techi Jacky began the proceedings amid loud cheers from the motley crowd present at the picturesque venue, and lived up to the expectations when he recorded a victory over Telangana’s Md Abdul Wadi Omair by a resounding 5-0 UD. Techi used his agility and swift movements to great effect and unsettled the opponent in the very first round, and continued to dominate the proceedings throughout the next two rounds to sail into the final of the 46kg Pinweight category bout.
In the final, he will take on Uttarakhand’s Brijesh Tamta, who defeated Gujarat’s Aniket Mallah 5-0.
In the 52kg light bantamweight semifinal, Gayki Rie wasn’t in the best of his elements against Haryana’s Dhruv but despite that he eventually managed to score a 4-1 split decision verdict in his favour. Gaykie will next face Sahil Board of the Services, who defeated Manipur’s Th Nilbir 5-0.
In the 54kg bantamweight category, Nenthok set up a title clash with Devang of the Services after getting the better of Assam’s Abhinash Das by a 3-2 split decision margin. Nenthok had to work hard for his win as the Assamese lad matched his shot before the Arunachal boxer gathered himself in the third and final round, thanks to the cheer from the crowd, to ensure a close finish. Devang on the other hand, registered a convincing 5-0 UD win over Sundry Yadav of Uttar Pradesh in the other semifinal contest.
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Tagio Liyak cruised to the 57kg featherweight category final with a commanding 5-0 victory over Chandigarh’s Arman. While the results may appear convincing, Tagio did admit after the bout that the Chandigarh lad was equally strong and managed to make contacts but it was the Arunachal boxer’s strong defence that helped him get over the line comfortably. In the final, Tagio will be up against Haryana’s Yogesh Dhanda, who recorded an easy 5-0 UD win over Andhra Pradesh’s Hemanth Jana Kumar Pappu.
Meanwhile, Manipur’s M Punshiba (60kg), Mizoram’s Lalnunpuia (66kg), Ladakh’s Villayat Ali (66kg), Punjab’s Shriyansh (80kg) and Himachal Pradesh’s Vendant Dhauta (80+ kg) were among the other finalists in their respective weight categories.
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