Youth World champion Vikas Krishan overcame a stiff fight from Olympian Diwakar Prasad to book a place in the 60kg final of the 57th Sahara National boxing championship at the Talkatora Stadium here on Thursday.
Knowing well that he would have to do something special against an experienced boxer like Diwakar, Vikas kept his rock-solid guard up and fought from a long range.
The two were tied at 2-2 in the first round after a quick exchange of blows. The youngster earned a valuable point through a left hook to take a crucial 3-2 lead in the second round and managed another one early in the third to record a 4-2 win.
“I followed what my coach (Jagdish Singh) had advised me to do. I had to be extra careful against someone like Diwakar,” said Vikas after making his first ever final in the championship.
“I gained a lot of confidence out of this win. I also learnt the importance of executing to one's plans well,” he said.
Neck and neck
Commonwealth champion Amandeep Singh was shown the door by Sunil Kumar. In a neck-and-neck 49kg fight, in which scores were level at 1-1 in the first round and 2-2 in the second, Amandeep lost 3-4 despite showing his maturity and boxing skills.
Former World cadet champion Vipin Kumar reached the light-flyweight title clash on his third attempt by edging past M. Murugan 7-6 in a contest that swung from side to side.
In the dramatic final round, Vipin's intelligence and Murugan's never-say-die spirit made the duel interesting. The warnings issued to the two pugilists, where they conceded two points each, added more thrills to the bout.
Last year's gold medallist Chhote Lal was entertaining in his convincing 13-6 victory over Torak Kharappan. A rhythmic boxer with sound technique, Chhote Lal was class apart from his rival, whose desperate efforts in the final moments proved futile in the bantamweight clash.
Keen contest
In the heavyweight, Praveen Kumar upset defending champion Manpreet Singh 5-4 in a keen contest.
Among others, Dinesh Kumar, Dilbagh Singh and Paramjeet Samota sailed smoothly to the finals. Six boxers from Railways and four from Services reached the finals. Three from Haryana also entered the summit clashes.
The results: Semifinals: 49kg: Vipin Kumar (UP) bt M. Murugan (TN) 7-6; Sunil Kumar (Har) bt Amandeep Singh (RSPB) 4-3.
52kg: Madan Lal (Har) bt Suraj (Aru) 2-1; Sanjay Singh (RSPB) bt Santosh (Goa) 2-1.
56kg: Chhote Lal (SSCB) bt Torak Kharappan (Meg) 13-6; S. Suresh (AIP) bt Kuldeep (Har) 6-4.
60kg: Vikas Malik (IBF) bt Kulwinder (Ker) 3-2; Vikas Krishan (Har) bt Diwakar Prasad (RSPB) 4-2.
64kg: Jitender Mann (Del) bt Vikram Singh (Raj) 2-1; V. Santosh Kumar (SSCB) bt Manoj Kumar (RSPB) 4-1.
69kg: Dilbagh Singh (RSPB) bt Sandeep (Har) 9-3; Dilbag Singh (Del) bt S.B. Tamang (AIP) 5-1.
75kg: Kulwant Singh (SSCB) bt R.B. Thapa (Aru) 9-0; Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) bt Rahul (Har) 8-1.
81kg: Dinesh (AIP) bt Vikas Singh (Del) RSC-I (Rd2); Jasveer (RSPB) bt Sujeet Kumar (SSCB) 11-1.
91kg: Narender (Del) bt Ranjeet (MP) 4-0; Praveen Kumar (RSPB) bt Manpreet Singh (SSCB) 5-4.
+91kg: Paramjeet Samota (RSPB) bt Jogender (Miz) k.o. (Rd1); Hardeep Singh (SSCB) bt G. Shanmugha (TN) RSC-OC (Rd1).
