New Delhi: Commonwealth champion Amandeep
Singh was sent packing by Sunil Kumar (49kg), while reigning
world youth champion Vikas Krishan (60kg) stunned Olympian
Diwakar Prasad to enter the finals on a day of upsets at the
57th Senior Men`s National Boxing Championships here on Thursday.
Amandeep, competing for team championship contenders
Railways Sports Promotion Board, lost 3-4 in a hard-fought
contest against Sunil, representing Haryana in the event.
Sunil, a former Commonwealth champion, will now face
former world cadet champion, Uttar Pradesh`s Vipin Kumar, who
entered his maiden Nationals final with a narrow 7-6 triumph
over Tamil Nadu`s M Murugan.
Diwakar, also a Railways man, lost 2-4 to the 18-year-old
Vikas in another major upset.
The 26-year-old Diwakar was level 2-2 with Vikas in the
first round but lost hold over the bout in the next two
rounds.
Vikas, a quarterfinalist at the previous Nationals, was
able to connect a couple of decisive blows when Diwakar
dropped his guard.
"I was confident of winning despite the fact that the
scores were level in the first round. Diwakar is an
experienced boxer but somehow his punches were not powerful
enough," Vikas, who will take on Indian Boxing Federation
individual entry Vikas Malik in the final, said after the
bout.
However, there were no surprises in the bantam weight
56kg
division with reigning champion and the Best Boxer of previous
edition Chhote Lal Yadav advancing to the finals with ease.
The Services Sports Control Board pugilist, who won a
gold medal at the South Asian Games this year, outpunched
Meghalaya`s Torak Kharappan 13-6 in a lopsided encounter.
The 26-year-old, however, did not get much time to
celebrate his win as he rushed to the hospital to be with his
mother, who was attacked by some goons while on her way to
Delhi to get Yadav`s unwell sister checked at the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Yadav will face All India Police`s S Suresh in the finals
tomorrow. Suresh beat Haryana`s Kuldeep 6-4 in his semifinal
bout.
In the light welter weight 64kg division, V Santosh Kumar
(SSCB) upstaged Railways` Manoj Kumar (RSPB) 4-1 to set up a
clash with Delhi`s Jitender Mann, who defeated Rajasthan`s
Vikram Singh 2-1.
Manoj is a former national champion and an Asian bronze
medallist.
In welter weight 69kg, it will be a battle of two Dilbags
in the final tomorrow.
Eight-time champion Dilbag Singh of the Railways will
face Dilbag Singh of Delhi. While the Railways boxer defeated
Harayana`s Sandeep 9-3, the Delhi-lad got the better of All
India Police`s S B Tamang 5-1.
In middle weight 75kg, SSCB`s Kulwant Singh set up a
clash with reigning champion Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) after
defeating Rana Bahadur Thapa of Arunachal Pradesh 9-0.
Kuldeep, on the other hand, out-punched Harayana`s Rahul
8-1.
In the light heavy weight 81kg division, World Cup bronze
medallist and Olympian Dinesh Kumar (AIP) will face off
against old rival Jasveer Singh (RSPB) in the finals.
While Dinesh left his Delhi opponent Vikas Singh with a
bleeding nose forcing the referee to award him the bout in the
second round, Jasveer also had very little trouble in sailing
past SSCB`s Sujeet Kumar 11-1.
PTI