Shiva Thapa and Mohammad Hussamuddin won gold medals at Polish Men’s Boxing Championships 2022 in Hisar on Friday.
Asia’s record six-time medalist Indian boxer Shiva Thapa easily defeated 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medalist Ankita Narwala by unanimous decision in the 63.5kg final.
Two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Mohammad Hussamuddin, however, was forced to work hard in the 57kg final by Sachin, the 2016 World Junior Champion. After losing last year’s final, Hussamuddin fought hard to win 4-1 this year.
2022 Asian Championships bronze medalist Narender (+92kg) was forfeited in his final match against 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist Sagar, who was forced to withdraw due to a minor injury.
Led by Hussamuddin and Narender, the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) pugilists stole the show on the final day of the tournament as the team successfully defended the national crown, winning a total of six gold, one silver and three bronze medals. Bishwamitra Chongtham (51 kg), Sachin (54 kg), Akash (67 kg) and Sumit (75 kg) are the other SSCB gold medalists.
The RSPB with two gold, three silver and two bronze medals and Punjab with one gold, two silver and six bronze medals finished second and third respectively.
Abhimanyu Loura (80 kg) and Naveen Kumar (92 kg) finished their campaigns with gold medals in their categories after hard-fought victories.
Abhimanyu, the bronze medalist of the 2019 Asian Youth Championships, who beat Tokyo Olympian Ashish Kumar in the quarter-finals, defeated Sahil of Chandigarh 4-1 and took the top podium.
Naveen, on the other hand, faced 2021 Asian champion Sanjeet in a replay of last year’s final, with the latter victorious. However, Naveen turned the tables this year, securing a 4-1 win.
2022 Asian Championships bronze medalist Govind Sahani (48 kg) and 2021 Asian bronze medalist Varinder Singh (60 kg) successfully defended their national titles. While Govind defeated Keisham Singh of Manipur 5–0, Varinder won against Vijay Kumar of Punjab with the same score.
Kartik from Punjab (86 kg) and Nishant Dev from Karnataka (71 kg) also won gold medals in their respective categories.
In addition to the medals, Abhimanyu Loura received the award for the best promising boxer. Kartik from Punjab won the best boxer award and Zoram Muana from Mizoram won the best challenger award.
Medalists of the Polish Men’s Boxing Championships 2022
48 kg: Govind Sahani (Gold), Keisham Singh (Silver), Neeraj Swami and Himanshu Sharma (Bronze)
51kg: Bishwamitra Chongthan (Gold), Zoram Muana (Silver), Amarjeet Sharma and Mohd Arif (Bronze)
54 kg: Sachin (Gold), Rajpinder Singh (Silver), Pukharam Singh and Hritik (Bronze)
57 kg: Mohammad Hussamuddin (Gold), Sachin (Silver), Ashish Kumar and Rushikesh Goud (Bronze)
60 kg: Varinder Singh (Gold), Vijay Kumar (Silver), Sunil Chouhan and Dikshant Dhaiya (Bronze)
63.5 kg: Shiva Thapa (Gold), Ankit Narwal (Silver), Manish Kaushik and Ashish (Bronze)
67 kg: Akash (gold), Abinash Jamwal (silver), Pralad Singh and Rohit Tokas (bronze)
71kg: Nishant Dev (Gold), Hemant Yadav (Silver), Sachin and Jashnpreet Singh (Bronze)
75 kg: Sumit (Gold), Nikhlel Premnath (Silver), Tinderpal Singh and Pritesh Bishnoi (Bronze)
80kg: Abhimanyu Loura (Gold), Sahil (Silver), Sanjay and Chander Dev Singh (Bronze)
86 kg: Kartik (Gold), Harsh Choudhary (Silver), Manish Panwar and Sumit (Bronze)
92 kg: Naveen Kumar (Gold), Sanjeet (Silver), Vishal Agari and Ashish Bhandor (Bronze)
92+kg: Narender (gold), Sagar (silver), Jaipal Singh and Akash (bronze)
