The Hindu : Sport / Boxing : Kerala takes overall title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 31, 2004

Sport

Sport - Boxing

Kerala takes overall title

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLLAM, DEC. 30. Kerala dethroned defending champion Manipur and won the overall title in the fifth Senior National women's boxing championship, which concluded at the Kadapakkada Sports Club here on Friday.

Kerala, which won four gold medals, finished with 37 points, while Manipur, with three gold medals, was second with 34 points. Assam came third with 25 points.

Form played true as Manipur ruled supreme in the lower weight categories where M.C. Merycom (46kg), Sandhya Rani (48kg) and L. Sarita (54kg) stamped their class in no uncertain terms.

However, Kerala made its presence felt in the heavier weight categories where Aswathy Mol (70kg) K.C. Lekha (80kg) and Reena (86kg) won gold medals. In between Aswathy Prabha grabbed the limelight by winning the 56kg gold rather easily.

However, it was the bout between Aswathy Prabha and T.S. Jyotimati Chanu in the 57kg that decided the championship in favour of Kerala. T.S. Jyotimati, on a comeback trail, tried her best to stop the Kerala girl from winning. But, Jyotimati was just a little slow than her opponent and had a tough time staying away from Aswathy's punches. Aswathy was later chosen as the best promising boxer of the meet.

L. Sarita of Manipur was once again chosen as the best boxer of the meet. Sarita won the gold in 54kg division by outscoring her rival Chhoto Lorua (MP) 14-6. Lorua was too defensive and allowed Sarita to dominate from the start. Lorua used the hit and run tactic to hilt in the first two rounds. But she couldn't sustain her momentum in the third round as Sarita launched a blistering attack with a combination of left and right punches, which saw her score heavily.

Kerala's Shiva Priya's dream run came to an end in the 63kg division where Asian champion Aruna Mishra beat her hollow in the first round. K.C. Lekha, Reena and Aswathy Mol won their gold medal bouts to fetch Kerala its maiden win in the championship.

The results (all finals): 46kg: M.C. Merycom (Man) bt Roshni Bhusal (Meg) 27-2; 48kg: Sandhya Rani (Man) bt Kalpana Sharma (Asm) 23-10; 50kg: Meena Kumari (Har) bt Jahanabi Gogoi (Asm) 15-2; 52kg: N. Usha (AP) bt K. Mandakini (Man) 15-9; 54kg: L. Sartia (Man) bt Chhoto Loura (MP) 14.6; 57kg: Aswathy Prabha (Ker) bt T.S. Joymati Chanu (Man) 20-10; 60kg: Parnamika Baura (Asm) bt Preeti (Har) 27-25; 63kg: Aruna Mishr (Jhar) bt Shiva Priya (Ker) RSC.

66kg: R.Jenny (Miz) bt Pratibha (Har) RSC; 70kg: Aswathy Mol (Ker) bt Rupender Kaur (Pun) RSC; 75kg: Karamjit Kaur (Pun) bt Dipika Das (Asm) RSC; 80kg: K.C.Lekha (Ker) bt Poly (Asm) RSC; 86kg: Reena (Ker) bt Shilbha Sathya (TN) RSC.

Overall title: 1. Kerala (37 points), 2. Manipur (34 points), 3. Assam (25 points).

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