Asian champion Sanjeet showed his class to outwit young Uttarakhand rival Harish Singh and book a place in the men’s 92kg quarterfinals at the boxing arena of the National Games here on Saturday.
Sanjeet of Services set up a last-eight clash with Delhi’s Harsh Kaushik, who got past a never-say-die Ajay Kumar of Karnataka 5-0.
Sanjeet, who had a disappointing outing in the Commonwealth Games, lived up to the billing. He began by landing a lusty upper cut, resulting in a standing count on Harish, and then used his trademark jabs and combinations to gain ground.
Even as Harish showed some courage, the taller Sanjeet boxed from a long range and moved around well to stay ahead. A few blows from Sanjeet in the third round forced the referee to stop the contest.
“I could have finished off the fight in the first round, but I wanted some ring time,” said Sanjeet. “My Commonwealth Games performance was frustrating. I had sleepless nights, but didn’t want any sympathy. I learnt a lesson and tightened my third round game. Now I want to build up for the Asian Games,” said Sanjeet.
On a day featuring several RSC decisions, Komalpreet Kaur (66kg) gave a power-packed performance to trounce Sneha Shelar 5-0. Former World junior champion Mandeep Kaur (57kg) also advanced to the last-eight.
Important results (preliminary round): Men: 75kg: Malsawmitluanga (Miz) bt Sahil Aslam (Guj) 5-0; 80kg: Vinit (Har) bt Aswin Ramesh (TN) 5-0; 92kg: Neeraj Kumar (Raj) bt Ashish Bahndor (HP) 4-1, Harsh Kaushik (Del) bt Ajay Kumar (Kar) 5-0, Sanjeet (SSCB) bt Harish Singh (Utk) RSC-R3; +92kg: Mohit (Har) bt Sayeed Bin Ali (Tel) RSC-R2.
Women: 57kg: Mandeep Kaur (Pun) bt J. Hannah Joy (TN) RSC-R3, Savita (Chd) bt Roshni Subba (Sik) 5-0; 66kg: Alena Thounaojam (Man) bt Devika D. (Ker) RSC-R3, Komalpreet Kaur (Pun) bt Sneha Shelar (Mah) 5-0.
