Andhra Pradesh boxers Mounika, Thanmai settle for bronze medals

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh pugilists finished their campaign in the 3rd Youth Boxing Nationals in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, with two bronze medals in the girls’ section.
In the 64kg welter weight category semifinal on Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh's B Mounika went down to Manipur's Menaka Devi in the first round itself as the referee stopped the contest.
Andhra Pradesh's second boxer in the semifinals was D Thanmai, who was defeated (RSC) by Punjab's Komal in the 81kg Heavy weight category.
In other bouts, nine Service boxers, led by India's frontline youth pugilists Vijay Deep and Bhavesh Khattimnani, ensured almost a whitewash win as they secured final berths. 2018 Youth world Bronze medalist Khattinmnani ousted local boxer Sanjay Kumar, displaying a lethal attack and sealing the bout in his favour with a unanimous 5:0 win. He will next take on Haryana’s Ankit in the 52kg summit clash.
Fellow SSCB boxer, Deep, a bronze medallist at the Golden Glove Boxing Championships in Serbia, did not have much to toil as his opponent faced a round 1 exit with a power, packed knock-out punch.
However, the only other services player who failed to make it to the final was Satender Sindh after losing to his opponent, Harsh Gill (91kg) from Haryana in a split verdict.
Haryana stands in second position with seven of their boxers cruising into the finals while two boxers from Delhi and one each from Assam and Uttar Pradesh also have assured berths in the summit clash.
Assam’s Bullen Buragohain (56kg) advanced to the finals after a thrilling encounter against Chandigarh's Parveen Singh with a split verdict of 4:1 from the judges.
In the women’s category, Haryana continued their dominion with as many as seven boxers guaranteeing finals berth.
However, it was the performance of the young boxers from Rajasthan that stole the show as five of the girls qualified for the finals. Led by Arundhati Chaudhuri, who was voted the best youth women boxer of Asia in 2018 by Asian Confederation of Boxing (ACB), the girls gave a tough fight to their opponents.
Arundhiti, a Khelo Indian trainee, defeated Haryana's Alisha in the 69kg semifinals in a convincing 5:0 verdict. Lipakshi (+81kg), a silver medalist at the Silesian Boxing Championship in Poland continued her fine run for Rajasthan as she defeated her opponent Swastik Bhardwaj with her attacking game that the referee had to stop the contest.
Uttarakhand will see a lone representation in Neha Kasnyal while two of the boxers from UP and Punjab are also assured spots in the final roster.
Kerala picked up three bronze medals courtesy Amala Joseph (69kg) Dalena Biju (75kg) and Parvathi (81kg) medals while Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra pulled off three bronze medal each chart as three of their boxers, each settled for the third spot in the boy's category.