Five Goa pugilists make it to medal round, four others box today

Mapusa: Goa is assured of at least five medals in boxing. There will almost certainly be more, but celebrations were on hold at the Peddem Indoor Stadium on Sunday.

Seven Goan boxers were drawn to face their opponents in the quarterfinals, which means they were just one win away from the medal round. Five of the seven boxers won their bouts with comparative ease, but nobody was celebrating.

“We will celebrate when we have gold medals,” coach Santosh Birmole told TOI after the end of the day’s quarterfinal rounds. “I have always maintained that we have boxers (in the team) who are capable of winning gold, so even if they are now in the medal rounds, the goal remains unchanged. There is still work to do.”

It didn’t go according to plan for Goa at the start.

Prahlad Panda started gingerly in his bout against Rushikesh Goud (Maharashtra) in the 54-57kg featherweight category and never really recovered after being down in the opening round.

Local hope Shrisha Jampula (Goa) also lost her quarterfinal bout, but all others had no trouble navigating the last-eight stage.

The most convincing was Sanamacha Chanu and Niharika among the women, and super heavyweight boxer Gaurav Chouhan. His bout against Sunit Ragi (Haryana) was one-sided with the referee stopping the contest in the second round.

Four more boxers are drawn to play the quarterfinals on Monday. A win, and Goa’s medal count will soar further.

“I have come prepared to win the gold here and I am not going to settle for anything less,” said Niharika, who put it across Greeta Saji of Kerala by a unanimous 5-0 decision. “I am happy so far with my performances but there’s no relaxing.”

Niharika, bronze medallist at the World Youth Championship, has now been drawn to play Tokyo Olympian Simranjit Kaur in the semi-finals. It’s a bout that is certain to be the most followed.

“I feel like I will defeat her. The bout will provide me with good experience, but I know I can defeat her and then India will know that Niharika is there in the 60kg (weight) category and I am the next Olympics hopeful. Everyone should see me as the next Olympics aspirant,” said Niharika, who’s grown in confidence after winning the competitive Inter-Railways gold just last week.

Quarterfinal results (Goan boxers): Men: Rushikesh Goud (Maharashtra) bt Prahlad Panda (Goa); Lokesh (Goa) bt Arshpreet Singh (Punjab); Ayush Sai (Goa) bt Harsh Rana (Delhi); Gaurav Chouhan bt Sunit Ragi (Haryana)

Women: Komalpreet Kaur (Punjab) bt Shrisha Jampula (Goa); Niharika (Goa) bt Greeta Saji (Kerala); Sanamacha Chanu (Goa) bt Jigyasa Rajput (Madhya Pradesh)


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