The first elite (Senior) Women’s National boxing championship which kick started by the state Chief Minister on Saturday at indoor stadium of Police line Roshanabad will witness 35 teams from across the country battling on the arena for next four days till 24th November.
Sunday witnessed a tough opening match between Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in 61 kg weight category at score 3-0 and Delhi defeating J&K in the 60 kg category. Daya Devi of Himachal Pradesh won over Muthulakshmi of Tamil Nadu and Bharti Kaushik of Delhi won over Rajni Devi of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the pre-quarter match held on Sunday afternoon, Haryana team battled against Rajasthan. Arjun Award winner from Haryana Priya Joshi said that it was a good attempt by the Uttarakhand Boxing Association to bring the boxing talents from across the country at one platform. She stressed on the need of opening of a Boxing academy in the district to bring up the local talent.
A day before boxing legend Mary Kom who has won the World boxing championship five times and on whose life a biopic has been made, was the star attraction of the locals and the players alike who were seen rubbing shoulders with Kom and getting selfies clicked with her. Mary Kom motivated the young players, shook hands with them and also gave tips for the game. A known shy person otherwise, Mary Kom mingled with the crowds getting off the dias. The audience was also keen to take her autographs. She said dedication and hardwork were the keys to success in any field and so was boxing. The chief minister also appreciated the state sports players who are excelling in hockey, badminton and athletics at the national level. Notably Vandana Kataria of Haridwar has won accolades to the holy city by captaining the 18 member hockey squad for the fourth edition of the Asian Champions Trophy played in Singapore this month.
While speaking to the Pioneer, a participant l Sarita who has played at international level in Asian games said that there was lot of talent in Uttarakhand and she was ready to assist the women players of Uttarakhand if the state government takes some initiative of giving coaching to the young players. She further said that it was imperative to bring the girls forward in boxing. They may not be able to win Olympic medal at the outset but could definitely take it as an effective tool for self defence.
The secretary of organising committee of district boxing association Vishal Garg said, “After daily bouts ending from November 20 to 24 the closing ceremony shall be held with prize distribution to winning teams by Minister of Sports, Government of Uttarakhand, Dinesh Agarwal.