Itanagar, July 15 (FN Agency) Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) boxers dominated the 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championships by claiming eight of the 13 gold medals on offer even as hosts Arunachal Pradesh ended up with the best ever finish of one gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the Don Bosco College campus here on Friday. The SSCB side was adjudged the “Best Team” of the tournament while Arunachal Pradesh was awarded with the “Best Fair Play” team. Nenthok Hodong (54kg) claimed the lone gold medal for the home side while Techi Jacky (46kg), Gaykie Rie (52kg) and Tagio Liyak (57kg) had to settle with silver medals after going down to their respective opponents.
For the SSCB side, Mahesh (48kg), Divash Katare (50kg), Sahil Baord (52kg), M Kabiraj Singh (63kg), Rahul Kundu (70kg), Sahil (75kg), Hardik Panwar (80kg) and Hemant Sangwan (80+kg) topped the podium. Manipur’s M Punshiba (60kg), Mizoram’s Lalnunpuia (66kg), Haryana’s Yogesh Dhanda (57kg) and Uttarakhand’s Brijesh Tamta (46kg) were the other gold medallists of the tournament. The gold medallists of the tournament have been selected for the upcoming Asian Junior Boxing Championships to be held in August. Hosting its first ever national tournament, Arunachal Pradesh received an early jolt when Jacky went down 0-5 to Brijesh in the 46kg Pinweight category summit clash. The 16-year-old, a product of the SAI Naharlagun, began on a promising note but eventually fell to a superior Brijesh, who took some time before getting his punches to great effect. Gayki also suffered a similar fate in the 52kg light bantamweight category final when he lost 0-5 to Sahil, to settle for the second position.
Nenthok then brought the smiles back on the faces of the local crowd after the referee raised his hand, signalling his 4-1 split decision victory over SSCB’s Devang. The bout began evenly and both boxers traded punches of equal intensity. Nenthok displayed great agility and ring awareness to distance himself from the opponent’s assaults, and eventually landed a couple of left jabs to turn the tide in his favour. Tagio also gave a good account of his aggressive best in the 57kg featherweight category title bout before Yogesh used his jabs and hooks to great effect to unsettle his opponent and clinch the gold. Arunachal’s Nenthok Hodong was eventually adjudged the “Best Boxer” of the competition that heralded a new era in the state’s sporting folklore.