Haryana's Sakshi, Assam's Boro in semis of Youth Boxing Nationals

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Rohtak: AIBA World Youth Boxing Championship gold medallists, Sakshi of Haryana and Ankushita Boro of Assam, romped past their respective opponents to book semifinal spots at the 2nd Youth Nationals. Pugilists from Harayana riding on the advantage of playing in their own backyard had an easy outing in the quarterfinals as four pugilists from the women's category and three from the men's class advanced to the semifinals.

After gathering experience from the World Youth Championships, Boro (60 kg) didn't even let her opponent breathe as she blitzed her opponent with vicious hooks which prompted the referee to halt the contest in the first round itself.

In the 57kg category, Sakshi brushed aside the challenge from Kerala's Sinsha with ease as the judges scored the bout 4-0 in favour of the local boxer after three gruelling rounds. Shivani (54 kg), Anamika (51 kg) and Nitu (51 kg) also breezed past their opponents and advanced to the semifinals. Anamika and Nitu registered identical wins as both of them peppered their opponents and the referee had to halt the contest in the second round itself.

In the men's section, Mohit (64 kg) and Akshay Kumar (60 kg) from Haryana registered emphatic 5-0 victories over C. Lalruatluanga of Mizoram and Myson Moriangthem of Manipur, respectively. In the bantamweight category, Haryana's Neeraj defeated Ajay from Daman Diu in a comprehensive manner as the judges scored the bout 4-1 in Neeraj's favour.

The only loss which came Haryana's way was courtesy SSCB's S Barun Singh when he defeated Siddhartha Malik. Four other SSCB boxers also advanced to the next stage.