Indian boxers led by national champion Ankit Khatana and budding pugilist Kalaivani Srinivasan won six gold medals on the penultimate day of the ongoing 13th South Asian Games (SAG 2019) on Monday while,World Championship bronze medalist Manish Kaushik had to be content with the silver medal. With the superb performance of the boxing contingent, India solidified its position at the helm in the medals tally with a total of 294 medals including 159 gold, 91 silver and 44 bronze.
In the men’s section, Ankit was joined by Vinod Tanwar (49 kg), Sachin (56 kg) and Gaurav Chauhan (91 kg) who won gold medals in their respective categories, while in the women’s section Parveen (60 kg) also won the gold medal.
The proceedings of the day was kicked off by men’s 49kg final bout where Vinod had an easy 5-0 victory over Bhutan’s Tashi Wangdi. Sachin who was next in line in the 56 kg weight category was equally impressive as even he outsmarted his opponent Mia Md Robin from Bangladesh with an identical scoreline of 5-0.
With two gold medals already in the kitty Indian pugilists now looked more venomous. When Khatana took the mat he looked unstoppable and clinched the gold with a commanding 5-0 victory over his Sri Lankan opponent Dinesh Maduranga Don Pathirage.
Things looked a little tense in the next few bouts as Gaurav Chauhan faced some challenge from Pakistan’s Sanaullah early in the 91 kg weight category. However, the Indian pugilist found his form and out punched his arch rival with a 4-1 margin.
Kaushik, who was considered a strong medal contender in the tournament, had to face disappointment as Bhupendra Thapa of Nepal upset him by defeating him 5–0.
While the men’s team was on song the women’s team was also not far behind as Kalaivani showed her resilience in her 3-2 victory over Nepal’s Maharjan Lalita in 48kg.
Praveen did have a tough task at hand, but she showed some great courage to snatch a 3-2 victory over Nepal’s Sunar Sangita in 60kg. However, 2017 Asian Championship bronze medalist Shiksha had to be content with silver after bowing out 0-5 to Minu Gurung of Nepal in 54kg.
The India team still has a few bouts schedule;ed for Tuesday where Vikas Krishnan (69 kg), Narendra (over 91 kg), Sparsh (52 kg), Varinder (60 kg) will be eyeing gold in the men’s category, while Pinky Rani (51 kg), Sonia Lather (57kg), and Manju Bamboriya (64kg) will look to take the top spot on the podium in the women’s category.
