Chandigarh, Dec 15 (IANS) Punjabs Ekta Saroj defeated Tanisha Chawan of Goa 5:0 to move into the next round of the Junior National Boxing Championships at the University Hall here on Saturday.
In the second round of the 48 kg bout, Saroj served a sound warning to fellow pugilists in her weight category as she pounded a flurry of punches on the hapless Goan boxer.
The Punjab boxer started with a few lefts to open her opponent’s guard and traded the blows to make a solid impression on the judges. There was no respite for her rival in the next two rounds as Tanisha just about managed to backtrack when the aggressive Punjab rival was punching her from close.
But Tannu from Haryana proved a notch better in her 52 kg bout against Nikitha Devi Baddani of Andhra Pradesh, whom the former sent packing.
After withstanding the first round, the Andhra girl was at the receiving end right from the bell of the second as Tannu went hard at her, landing a few straights as well effective rights.
The staggering Andhra girl was gasping for breath as the Haryana international piled on her agony before the referee stopped the contest.
Taking the cue from her teammate, Haryana’s Vinka needed just two rounds to send her Maharashtra rival, Sayali Hire, out of the contest.
Fighting from the red corner, the Haryana girl, with an international gold medal under her belt, was in a punishing mood as Sayali would agree right from the word go. So much so, the referee had to intervene in the second round to stop the contest, giving the RSC-2 verdict in the Haryana girl’s favour.
Another international from Manipur, H. Ambeshori made her way up through clean punching to defeat her Tamil Nadu rival P. Varshini 5:0. The Manipuri, slow to begin with, increased the tempo by the closing seconds of the first round and continued through the second and third rounds to get an all-clear verdict from the judges.
The Manipuri proved too hot for the Tamil Nadu girl, who was surprised with the speed and exchange of good punches of her northeast opponent. Ambeshori, quick on her feet, used the ring well to push Varshini to the ropes on more occasions.
Restricted as she was, the Tamil Nadu girl could hardly make an impact on the Manipuri.
In other bouts of the day, the results were more or less in favour of the fancied boxers who moved up a rung closer to the knockout stages.
–IANS
ajb/sed