Thapa runs away with gold

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MARCH 29. Rohit Thapa of the 1st Signal Training Centre hogged the attention with his powerful punches and delectable finesse in running away with the featherweight gold in the junior section of the Coca-Cola YMCA boxing championship at the Jai Singh Road ring here on Wednesday.

On a day when class and quality was at a premium, the 16-year old Rohit Thapa, who trains in Jabalpur, fought to a plan in forcing the referee to stop the contest in the first round itself, as he outclassed Karthik Doraiswamy, no mean boxer himself, of the Madras Engineering Group.

Within a few seconds, Thapa had raced to a 13-2 score and shook his opponent with straight lefts that brooked little resistance. ``My coach had told me to fight with concentration and not listen to the shouting from outside. I was confident of winning the gold quickly,'' said Thapa, who had won the sub- junior gold in Bhilai last year.

In the sub-junior section, Jitender Raj Singh of Delhi showed considerable skill and understanding of the sport in out- boxing Raja Ram of Tata Steel. The son of national junior coach Swatantar Raj Singh, Jitender, a runner-up in the recent national sub-junior championship, won a 16-2 decision.

In the senior section, Benjamin Siddi of MEG, Bangalore, was too good in powering past T.S. Chalam of the Signal Training Centre. The former national champion raced to a 17-1 lead by the second round, forcing the jury to signal the referee to stop the contest, much to the relief of his opponent.

The rest of the finals will be fought on Thursday.

The results (finals):

Seniors: Light flyweight: S.B. Thapa (AR) bt Chaoba Singh (MEG) 17-1.

Flyweight: Rajesh Jakhar (1-STC) bt S.K. Thapa (AR) 17-11.

Bantamweight: Benjamin Siddi (MEG) bt T.S. Chalam (1- STC) RSC (O) 2nd rd.

Juniors: Light flyweight: Santosh Kumar Thakur (Ben) bt Trilok Singh (Del `A') 14-11.

Flyweight: A.L. Lakra (Tata Steel) bt Kamlesh Prasad (1-STC) RSC (O) 1st rd.

Bantamweight: Mohammed Shabuddin (SAI, Hyd) bt Ram Khilari Yadav (Del `A') 51-46 (11-11).

Featherweight: Rohit Thapa (1-STC) bt Karthik Doraiswamy (MEG) RSC (O) 1st rd.

Lightweight: C.V.L. Chhvanga (SAG, Miz) bt S. Nagaraj (MEG) 14-7.

Sub-juniors: 12 years: 30-33 kg: Z.N. Tluanga (SAG, Miz) bt Sushil Purty (Tata Steel) 1-0; 33-36 kg: Himanshu (Del `A') bt Jatinder (SAI, Bhi) 9-8.

13 years: 39-42 kg: Pappu Rajak (Ben) bt Mitra Singh Rana (Del `A') RSC (O) 3rd rd.; 42-45 kg: Lalchung Mung (SAG, Miz) bt Krishna Kumar (Del `A') 14-1.

14 years: 39-42 kg: Jitender Raj Singh (Del `A') bt Raja Ram (Tata Steel) 16-2; 42-45 kg: M. Soranjoy Singh (SAG, Imp) bt Kediar Sandil (Tata Steel) 11-1; 45-48 kg: W. Sachi Singh (SAG, Imp) bt Kapil Kumar (SAI, Bhi) 11-6.

15 years: 42-45 kg: Sonu (SAI, Bhi) bt Sunil Kumar (Tata Steel) 14-6; 45-48 kg: Santosh Kumar (Tata Steel) bt Lal Thazula (SAG, Miz) 12-10; 48-51 kg: Lal Nun Mawia (SAG, Miz) bt Vicky Tokas (Del `B') 12-4; 51-54 kg: Jai Bhagwan Singh (Har) bt Ranjit Das (Ben) 8-3.

16 years: 42-45 kg: Anil Kandwal (SAI, Kashipur) bt B. Nagaraj (SAI, Hyd) RSC (O) 1st rd.

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