Haryana dominates proceedings as Yashwardhan Singh enters quarter-finals of 1st ever Sub Junior Boys' Boxing Nationals

Yashwardhan Singh is a trainee at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak and a Silver medalists at 2019 Khelo India, he pulled off the first KO of the Championship with his domination performance during the first edition of Sub Junior Boys Nationals — Yashwardhan Singh (in blue) is a trainee at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak and a Silver medalists at 2019 Khelo India, he pulled off the first KO of the Championship with his domination performance during the first edition of Sub Junior Boy's Nationals

Rohtak, July 5: Yashwardhan Singh led the march of local hopes into the quarter-finals as hosts Haryana dominated the proceedings at the first ever Sub Junior Boys' Boxing Nationals held at the National Boxing Academy (NBA) in Rohtak on Friday (July 5).

The talented pugilist, who was a silver medallist at the Khelo India Youth Games in January, knocked out Umesh Kumar of Delhi in the first round of his 58kg bout to advance to the last-eight. Singh is a trainee at the NBA in Rohtak under the Khelo India scheme and has his eyes set on getting a medal from this prestigious tournament.

Haryana registered more wins on Day 4 through Anke in 61kg who beat Punjab's Gurpreet by RSC in Round II. Statemate Gaurav Saini also advanced by dint of a RSC win in Round III over Chandigarh's Inderjit Singh in 64kg. Also making it to the quarters were Bharat Joon in 70kg and Rhythm in 70+kg. While Joon was declared the winner over Punjab's Gurkewal Singh by RSC in Round I, Rhythm ended the hopes of Uttarakhand's Ayush Bhatt by RSC in Round I.

In 55kg, Haryana's Preet Malik beat Telengana's Srinivas Raju by RSC in Round I while Milan Deswal was given a walkover by Telengana's Pawan in 52kg.

Delhi's chances were kept alive by Divanshu Godara in 64kg, who beat Jammu & Kashmir's Mohd. Asif by RSC in Round III. Joining him in the last-eight were Vishal Sherawat in 67kg and Reeshabh Malik in 70+ kg on the fourth day of the Championships.

Punjab was represented in the winners' column by Lovi in 49kg, Manmeet Singh in 55kg, Mustafa Haneeef in 58kg and Harsh Kanyal in 70+kg. Sumit Attri of Chandigarh was another notable name winning in 49kg. Also progressing from Chandigarh were Ansh Rathi in 58kg and Ankit Kundu in 52kg.

The North-East continued producing fine results. Manipur's Chinglema Moirangthem (58kg) put up a flawless display to notch up an RSC victory in 3rd round over Anuj of Rajasthan. Mizoram's Zodinsanga in 49kg, Arunachal's Hodong Yangwok in 52kg and Pordung Guruk in 55kg, Manipur's Th. Lucky Boy Singh in 61kg also had a winning outcome on Friday.

Patnana Prasad of Andhra Pradesh had to work hard for his 3-1 triumph over Uttar Pradesh's Vishal Tomar in 55kg. Yerransetty Harivarhan from the same state got a walkover win over Gujarat's Aman Tiwari in 70+kg.

Maharashtra's Harshwardhan Wagh laboured to a 3-2 win over Jharkhand's Nikhil Kumar in 49kg while Shubham Gusinge was an RSC winner in Round 1 over Orissa's Ammlan Ratha in 61kg. Davashish Changre did not have to step into the ring for he got a walkover into the 64kg quarters.

33 teams and 326 boxers have participated in this seven-day tournament. With the first couple of rounds getting completed on Friday, the quarter-final action will begin on Saturday with the grand finale taking place on July 8.