Bareilly, Jan 8 Govind Sahani, a silver medallist at the 2023 Strandja Memorial International Boxing Tournament and a member of the Indian contingent for the 2023 Men’s World Boxing Championships, started his campaign at the Elite Men’s National Boxing Championship with a commanding win over Mohammad Aarif of Jammu & Kashmir on the opening day of the tournament here on Tuesday.
Close to 300 boxers are battling for supremacy in the championship, representing their respective state units in the tournament, organised by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Uttar Pradesh Boxing Association.
Day 1 witnessed several thrilling bouts that set the tone for the competition. Devendra Solanki of Rajasthan opened the tournament in style, defeating Donald Winston Janumala in the flyweight (47-50 kg) category. In the bantamweight (50-55 kg) division, Badal of Himachal Pradesh emerged victorious against Mizoram’s Lalhruaitluanga.
Back in the ring, the lightweight category saw Goa’s Nitesh Chawan outclass Kerala’s Mohamed Athif with a dominant 5-0 win, while Arunachal’s Ito Ado secured a hard-fought victory over Himanshu Singh. Bhanu Prakash defeated Ashish in the Welterweight (60-65 kg) category, while the (70-75 kg) weight class featured impressive wins by Nikhil Dubey and Arshpreet Singh Bhatti.
Representing their respective state units, each team features up to ten boxers in bouts structured under the World Boxing Technical & Competition Rules, with three three-minute rounds and one-minute rest periods in between rounds. A 10-points-must scoring system is in effect throughout the championship.
Team SSCB (Services) enters the tournament as two-time defending champions, having won the sixth and seventh editions of the championship.
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