Kannur, Dec. 2: The 4th Elite Women's National Boxing Championship took off with 235 boxers from 33 teams participating at Mundayad Indoor Stadium, Kannur, Kerala on Monday.

A total of 23 matches were played on the first day with Punjab's Minakshi (48 kg) displaying superb control and movement to defeat Meghalaya's Eva Marbaniang 5-0. Chandigarh's Rituz also began her campaign emphatically as she defeated Ladakh's Dechen in a one-sided affair in the light fly weight category as the referee had to stop the contest in round one itself.

Spurred by the home support, Kerala's Anchu Sabu (48 kg) sprung the surprise of the day as she landed a string of power-packed punches on Manika Kumari from Bengal and bagged the bout with an RSC verdict in round 2.

However, the most exciting bout of the day was played between Assam's Priya Gorh and Madhya Pradesh's Anjali Sharma again in the 48kg. Both the boxers fought neck and neck in all the three rounds as Priya prevailed at the end with a split verdict, 3-2 going in her favour.

The fourth edition will witness some of India's topmost talents as well as some of the emerging boxers - World Championships silver medallist Sonia Chahal (57 kg), Junior Youth Champions Jyoti Gulia (51kg) and 2017 Youth World Champion Shashi Chopra (60 kg), President's Cup gold medallist Monica (48 kg), Cologne World Cup gold medallist Meenakumari Devi (54 kg) and India Open gold medallist Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) vying for the coveted National crown.

The pugilists will be competing in all the ten weight categories- 48kg, 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 64kg, 69 kg, 75 kg, 81kg and +81kg as the team from Ladakh are participating for the first time, thereby validating Boxing Federation of India (BFI)'s efforts to promote boxing across every corner of the country.

Last year, Haryana finished at the top of the podium followed by Railways who came second with 39 points.

The preliminary matches will be played on the first four days followed by the knockout stage starting from December 6. The final matches will be played on December 8.

Source: Press Release