Amidst vociferous support, local boy Balbir stunned Asian and Commonwealth champion Suranjoy Singh in a keenly-fought flyweight bout to enter the quarterfinals in the 57th Sahara National boxing championship at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here on Tuesday.
Out of action for around two years, Balbir, representing the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF), rode on the confidence that he had beaten Suranjoy in the past. After a scoreless first round, Balbir was trailing 2-3 in the second. However, he did not lose his cool and launched some counter-attacks to win the contest 5-3.
“I have been training well and I knew I could beat Suranjoy, who is at his peak,” said Balbir, a 2002 World cadet champion.
Known in boxing circles as a talented but inconsistent pugilist, Balbir said his aim was to get a slot in the Commonwealth Games Core Group.
Exemplary show
Olympian Diwakar Prasad displayed an exemplary show of all-round boxing to outsmart Akshay Kumar 12-2.
The Railway veteran exhibited his solid defence, swift feet movement and well-executed punches to keep his opponent busy and the crowd entertained in a 60kg bout.
World youth champion Vikas Krishan got a walkover against World Cup medallist Akhil Kumar, who conceded his bout because of an aggravation of a knee injury.
Akhil had got a walkover in the first round. Commonwealth gold medallist Dinesh Kumar and Super Cup winner Jasveer recorded convincing victories to advance to the 81kg quarters.
The results: Pre-quarterfinals:
52kg: Ramdas (Cht) bt K. Santosh (AP) 8-1; Suraj (Aru) bt Baljinder (Pun) 4-1; Mukesh Kumar (Chd) bt Shreekant (UP) 8-2.
Madan Lal (Har) bt Abhinandan (Asm) RSC-OC (Rd1); Santosh (Goa) bt Sanjay (MP) 9-0; Bhupender (Del) bt Govind (Utr) 5-1.
Balbir (IBF) bt Suranjoy Singh (SSCB) 5-3; Sanjay Singh (RSPB) bt Ranjeet Raja (Jha) 9-0.
60kg: Pradeep Kumar (AIP) bt Anil (Goa) 5-1; Kulwinder (Ker) bt Amit Roy (WB) 7-0; Mahesh Singh (UP) bt Sanjay Tokas (MP) 4-0; Vikas Malik (IBF-A) bt Rajkumar (Kar) 8-0; Vikas (Har) w.o. Akhil Kumar (IBF-C); Amit Kumar (Utr) bt Praveen (Raj) 4-3; Diwakar Prasad (RSPB) bt Akshay Kumar (Del) 12-2; Deepak (J-K) bt Ankit (HP) 8-8 (indiv. Scoring 19-18).
64kg: Anshuman (Goa) bt Rishi Kumar (Bih) RSC-OC (Rd1); Vikram Singh bt Surender (Ori) 3-0; Pradeep Kumar (IBF-A) bt Tilak Budha (Aru) 2-0. Jitender Mohan (Del) bt Nikhil (Utr) RSC-I (Rd1); Jugindro (Man) bt Vinit Kotian (Mah) 9-5; Santosh Kumar (SSCB) bt A. Duhawma (Miz) 12-0; Lakhbir Singh (Pun) bt Ravi Kumar (Jha) 5-1; Manoj Kumar (RSPB) bt Dalbir Singh (AIP) 13-3.
75kg: Sunil Olla (MP) bt Rajwinder Singh (Jha) 12-1; Kulwant Singh (SSCB) bt Avinash (J-K) RSC-OC (Rd1); V. Naresh (AP) bt Sufal Das (Cht) RSC-OC (Rd1).
R.B. Thapa (Aru) bt Abdul Muneer (Ker) k.o. (Rd3); Jagat Singh (Utr) bt Suresh Kumar (Chd) 11-9; Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) bt Yogesh (Mah) 14-2; Devanshu (UP) bt G. Vivek (Kar) 3-3 (indiv. Scoring 8-7); Rahul (Har) bt Barider Singh (Pun) 6-4.
81kg: Vikas Singh (Del) bt Gurpal (Jha) 1-0; Parvinder (Pun) bt Gursahib (Man) 11-0; Dinesh Kumar (AIP) bt Ratan Chand (Nag) RSC-OC (Rd3); Rahul Pasi (MP) bt Sachin Kumar (UP) RSC-OC (Rd2).
Ajay Kumar (J-K) bt Vipin (Chd) 4-1; Jasveer (RSPB) bt Amit Singh (Cht) RSC-I (Rd2); Sujeet Kumar (SSCB) bt Lavish Singh (Utr) 2-1; Kuldeep (Har) bt Vinoth Kumar (TN) 13-0.
