Nanao sets up title clash with Amandeep

Nanao sets up title clash with Amandeep

TH Nanao Singh of Services and Amandeep (Railways) set up a summit clash in the light fly weight category (46-49 kg) in the 59th Senior National Boxing Championship.

Participating in the first bout of the penultimate day of the championship, the crafty Nanou, the 2009 Asian Championship gold medallist, downed Pankaj Saini of Punjab 17-12 while Amandeep, the 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, ousted a fighting Naveen Kumar (Haryana) 13-11 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Nanao, who is making a comeback of sorts, was aggressive and powerful. The fleet-footed Services boxer packed too many guns for Saini. He led 5-3 in the first round. In second, it was a close fight with Saini collecting four points but Nanao was always in the lead. In the third and final round, Nanao rained a few lusty blows to emerge an easy winner in the end. Railways’ Amandeep faced some stiff resistance from Naveen Kumar.  The Railways had to be cautious as Naveen looked dangerous with his right hooks. Amandeep had two points advantage in the first round and that turned out to be crucial in the end as a determined Naveen had Amandeep some sort of trouble. Both the pugilists were five all in the second and seven-all in the final round but it was not good enough for the gallant Naveen, who had to bow out of the tournament.

Sauban Santosh (Manipur) and V Durga Rao (Karnataka) posted easy wins in bantam weight category (56 kg) semi-final bouts. Santosh, who shocked Chotte Lal of Services on Friday, pummeled  Ashish (UP) into submission to win 15-6 whileRao was too good for Haryana’s Ajay Kumar. Rao won 19-12.  Railways’ Dilbag Singh had another tryst with the title when he battered Manish Vikey (MP) before the referee stopped the contest in the third round.

Results (semi-finals)

Light flyweight (46-49 kgs):  TH Nanao Singh (Ser) bt Pankaj Saini (Pun) 17-12; Amandeep (RSPB) bt Naveen (Har) 13-11.

Flyweight (52 kg): Madan Lal (SSCB) bt Santosh Fakirapa (Goa) 15-9; Gauravi Bidhuri (Del) bt Mahimai Nathar (Kar) 9-5.

Bantamweight (56kg): Sauban Santosh (Man) bt Ashiah (UP) 15-6; V Durga Rao (Kar) bt Ajay Kumar 19-12.

Lightweight (60 kg): Neeraj Goyat (Tri) bt Anil Kvi (Bih) 11-10; Vikas (RSPB) bt S Kumar (Har) 22-12.

Light welterweight (64 kg): Mandeep (RSPB) bt Aaditya  Mane (Mah)16-7; Manish Pawar

(Del) bt Narender Singh (Pun).

Welterweight (69 kg): Naveen (Har) bt Vijay (Sik) 16-9; Dilbag Singh (RSPB) bt Manish Vikey (MP) RSC 3rd round.

Middleweight (75 kg): Sukhdeep Singh (Pun) bt Rajwinder Singh (Jhr) 14-7; Jaideep (SSCB) bt Kuldeep Singh (RSPB) 19-12.

Light Heavyweight (81 kg): Jagroop (Pun) bt Akash Kumar (Raj) 22-7; Harjinder (Man) bt Rahul Kumar RSC 2nd round.

Heavyweight (91 kg): Manpreet Singh (SSCB)  bt Jasveer Singh (RSPB) 15-12; Samrat (Mah) bt  Hari Singh (Raj) RSC 3rd round.

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