Services (61 points) won the title in the Atlas Power India-junior National boys' boxing championship, which concluded at the Nehru indoor stadium lawn, here on Sunday.
Haryana (42) finished second while Tamil Nadu emerged third, with 32 points. In the 13 weight category finals that was held, Services won six of the eight it took part in.
It was a commanding performance from Services; its two loses coming in the welter (66kg) and middle (75kg) weight categories. Haryana won three of the five finals while the host Tamil Nadu clinched two gold medals through A. Manikandan (feather, 57kg) and V. Raj Bharath (welter). J. Dhanasekar of Tamil Nadu lost tamely to Abhishek Beniwal of Services in the light heavy (80kg) final.
Raj impresses
Tamil Nadu's Raj impressed in his bout against Sandeep Sharma (Services) winning 4-0. Raj opened the account in the second round with a left-right combo straight into the nose of Sandeep, and he continued in a similar vein. Sandeep was very much unlike a Services boxer; awkard and guileless. Raj sealed the match in the fourth round with a series of left-right crosses.
Judges favour
The Manikandan-Deepak bout ended scoreless even after three rounds and in the end it was left to the judges to decide the outcome. Three judges decided in favour of Manikandan while two voted for Deepak.
The 2-0 defeat of favourite Malkhan Singh of Haryana to Lokesh Bhoj of Services in the lightweight final came as a bit of a surprise. Malkhan paid the price for being aggressive and not using the crouched stance while Lokesh mixed aggression and defence judiciously.
The results (finals):
Pin (46kg): Amit (Har) lost to Sandeep Bagri (SSCB) 0-2; lightfly (48kg): Amit Kumar (Del) lost to P.L. Prasad (SSCB) 1-3; fly (50kg): Rahul Punia (Har) bt Kishore Kumar (Kar) 0-0 (3-2 judges verdict); lightbantam (52kg): Sunny (Har) bt Praveen Gurung (Utk) 3-0; bantam (54kg): Rabi Rauth (WB) lost to A. David Singh (SSCB) 0-6; feather (57kg): Deepak (Har) lost to K. Manikandan 0-0 (3-2 judges verdict); light (60kg): Malkhan Singh (Har) lost to Lokesh Bhoj (SSCB) 0-2; lightwelter (63kg): Sumit (SSCB) bt Isal Rotaangpuia (Miz) 4-2; welter (66kg): Sandeep Sharma (SSCB) lost to V. Raj Bharath (TN) 0-4; lightmiddle (70kg): Pramod Shinde (Mah) lost to Vishal Kumar (M.P.) 0-10; middle (75kg): Raj Pal (SSCB) lost to Kailash Gill (Har) 0-3; lightheavy (80kg): J. Dhanasekar (TN) lost to Abhishek Beniwal (SSCB) RSC OC; heavy (81kg): Azad Singh (Utk) bt Gaurav Pawar (Del) RSC (Inj).
