Guwahati: The final round of the 13th Senior Women’s National Boxing Championship presented my Monnet Ispat and Energy Limited offered more than just the ‘National Title’. Former title holders Railways were looking to regain the top podium finish after a gap of two years with six of their pugilists qualifying for the championship round of the tournament. Railways boxer and 2012 Asian Championship silver medallist Pinki Jangra (51kg) was gunning to bag her first gold medal in her eight appearance at the National Championships.

After upsetting the women’s boxing sensation of Indian and reigning Youth World Champion Sarjubala Devi of Manipur, Mamta from Haryana was looking to assert her dominance at the domestic circuit with her first national title. Super heavy weight boxer and world number 5, Kavita Chahal (+81kg) of AIP looked all set to defend her title and claim her sixth national gold medal.

2011 Arafura games gold medallist Pinki Jangra capped off a brilliant performance clinching the gold in the fly weight division. Having beaten her biggest challenger for the title, Van Lal Duati in the quarters, the 22 year old dynamo easily claimed the top podium finish with another exceptional display. She beat N Tonibala Chanu of Arunachal Pradesh with huge margin of 14 points to bag her first Senior National Gold medal.

The Haryana girl, who is now employed with the Railways was elated to have finally won the elusive gold and expressed, “The gold medal took a long time coming, I came very close on a few occasions in past and lost it in the end. Now that I have won it, it seems is every bit worth the wait. I am extremely happy with my performance over the last five days and the win has given me a lot of confidence as well. I look forward to the national camp now”.

But the bout of the day came in the middle weight division with two affluent fighters taking on each other. It was the experience of 2012 Asian Games bronze medallist Kavita Goyat of Haryana against the aggression of 2011 Arafura Games silver medallist Pooja Rani of RSPB. Both boxers threw in a lot of punches in the first round but it was Goyat, a veteran in the sport, who prevailed (1-0). In the second though, Rani came back strongly with some heavy hitting. Goyat still held the lead (5-4) midway through the bout, but seemed to be losing advantage.

Beginning of the third round the tables turned in favour of the Railways boxer, she started to dominate the game with her cracking jabs and three punch combination. A warning for Goyat worked in favour of Rani, by the end of the third round she was leading 11-6 and the writing was on the wall. Rani, a silver medallist at the 2011 senior nationals went on to claim the gold with a 16-7 win. Goyat had to settle for a silver medal finish this time around.

Railways boxers Pavitra in the feather weight division and Meena Rani in the light welter weight division also clinched the gold beating their respective opponents. While Pavitra, a 2010 Asian Championship bronze medallist beat Youth World Championship bronze medallist Pwilao Basumatary (20-11), 2011 Arafura Games silver medallist Meena drubbed Suman of the All India Police (21-14).

In the light fly weight division, last year’s bronze medal winner Mamta continued her winning streak defeating Rebecca Lalinmawii on points 15-9. The 22 year old put up sterling performance to get the better of the feisty Mizoram boxer. She won on points 15-9. Her exceptional performance in the tournament also gained her the title of the best boxer of the championship.

“My strategy was to go slow and pick up pace in the second round, things played out according to my plan and helped me pick up my first senior nationals gold”, said the champion. 2012 World Championship bronze medallist Chahal (+81kg) of the All India Police team, did have to throw a single punch to win her sixth national title. The 27 year old won the gold medal by virtue of walk over.

By Indian Sports News Network