Itanagar: Promising boxer Nenthok Hodong gave the perfect finishing touches to Arunachal Pradesh’s campaign at the 5th Junior Boxing National Championships with a glittering gold, even as the home side ended with an impressive haul of 1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Don Bosco Complex here on Friday.
“Izzat ka sawal tha (It was a matter of honour). We are the hosts, and all I wanted was to give my 100 percent for the gold,” Hodong told EastMojo after the contest.
The 16-year-old, a trainee at the SAI Naharlagun, was eventually adjudged the “Best Boxer” of the competition that heralded a new era in the state’s sporting folklore.
Meanwhile, Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) boxers dominated the championships by claiming eight of the 13 gold medals on offer, and was adjudged the “Best Team” of the tournament.
Hosting their first national tournament, Arunachal Pradesh was awarded with the “Best FairPlay” team at the competition.
Besides Hodong’s (54kg) gold medal, Techi Jacky (46kg), Gaykie Rie (52kg) and Tagio Liyak (57kg) took home silver medals after going down to their respective opponents.
For the SSCB side, Mahesh (48kg), Divash Katare (50kg), Sahil Baord (52kg), M Kabiraj Singh (63kg), Rahul Kundu (70kg), Sahil (75kg), Hardik Panwar (80kg) and Hemant Sangwan (80+kg) topped the podium.
Manipur’s M Punshiba (60kg), Mizoram’s Lalnunpuia (66kg), Haryana’s Yogesh Dhanda (57kg) and Uttarakhand’s Brijesh Tamta (46kg) were the other gold medallists of the tournament.
The gold medallists of the tournament will be selected for the upcoming Asian junior boxing championships in August. According to a boxing federation source, the team will be announced in a couple of days.
With as many as four boxers in fray on Friday, the crowd at the DBS complex were initially left disappointed after Jacky went down 0-5 to Brijesh in the 46kg Pinweight category summit clash.
The 16-year old, a product of the SAI Naharlagun, began on a promising note but eventually fell to a superior Brijesh, who took some time before getting his punches to great effect.
Gayki also suffered a similar fate in the 52kg light bantamweight category final when he lost 0-5 to Sahil, to settle for the second position.
Nenthok then brought the smiles back on the faces of the local crowd after the referee raised his hand, signaling his 4-1 split decision victory over SSCB’s Devang. The 54kg Bantamweight final bout began evenly and both boxers traded punches of equal intensity.
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Nenthok displayed great agility and ring awareness to distance himself from the opponent’s assaults, and eventually landed a couple of left jabs to turn the tide in his favour.
Tagio also gave a good account of his aggressive best in the 57kg Featherweight category title bout before Yogesh used his jabs and hooks to great effect to unsettle his opponent and clinch the gold.
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