National Games: Manjeet starts with a win

Making it count: National champion Manjeet Kumar ((right) came up with some steady left-right combinations against Sandeep Toppo in the men's 60kg class Photo: K.K. Najeeb

Manjeet Kumar of SSCB opened his campaign with a 27-11 verdict over Sandeep Toppo of Jharkhand in the men’s boxing 60kg lightweight class of the 35th National Games at the TSGA indoor stadium here on Saturday.

Manjeet, the current national champion, suffered a slight cut on his right eyebrow in the opening minute of the first round. He was wounded but not shaken. The 2010 youth World championship medallist, tactically a very strong pugilist, came up with some steady left-right combinations to take an early lead at 12-3. Having gained some command, he defended smartly and counter attacked when required to win the hearts of the crowd.

Manpreet makes merry

Manpreet Singh (SSCB), on the other hand, did not sweat much on his way to a 16-4 win over Ravi Kumar of Jharkand.

The host boxer T.M. Anzal, suffered the worst defeat of the day. He was helpless against a much fancied Vishwanath Naik of Goa, who kept pulling punches from all angles for a 40-12 win. But Kerala’s Alphonsa Mariya Thomas pulled of a 19-14 win over a strong G. Sujatha of Andhra Pradesh.

The results:

Men: Light fly 46-49kg: Bhadhur Singh Rana (Utk) bt Monduru Prasad (Kar) 22-9). Fly 52kg: Sandeep (SSCB) bt Dhawal Bariya (Guj) RSC R2; Santosh Fakirapa (Goa) bt Soobam Sunny Singh (Man) 11-3.

Bantam 56kg: Jeevan Singh (Man) bt Chandan Kumar (UP) RSC R1; Vishwanath Naik (Goa) bt T.M. Anzal (Ker) 40-12. Light 60kg: Manjeet Kumar (SSCB) bt Sandeep Toppo (Jha) 27-11; Deeraj (J&K) bt Ranjnish Kumar Rana (Bih) RSC R1. Light welter 64kg: Ashutosh Towari (MP) bt Manikandan (TN) 25-13; Ashish Jasrotia (J&K) w/o. Vikas Beniwal (Tri).

Welter 69kg: Jitendra Singh Jora (Utk) bt Rashmi Ranjan Nayak (Ori) RSC R1. Middle 75kg: Sirtaj Singh (Pun) bt Jitender (Har) 16-13. Light heavy 81kg: Surender Singh (Har) bt P.K. Prabffsh (Ker) RSC R2. Heavy 91kg: Manpreet Singh (SSCB) bt Ravi Kumar (Jha) 16-4.

Women: Fly 48-51kg: Sonia (Har) bt Priyanka (Goa) 20-3; Deepika (MP) bt S. Harishma (TN) RSC R1; Alphonsa Mariya Thomas (Ker) bt G. Sujatha (AP) 19-14. Light 57-60kg: Gayatree Singh (Ori) bt P. Kumudvini (Tlg) RSC R4; Anju Bala (J&K) bt Arensangla (Nag) 12-7. Middle 69-75kg: E. Memthoi Devi (Man) bt Rachna Yadav (Har) 14-5; Heena Tokas (Del) bt Baljit Kaur (Pun) RSC R2.