Manoj Kumar earns gold at National Championships while Shiva Thapa settles for silver
Manoj Kumar overcame the challenge of Duryodhan Singh to secure his second successive gold in the 69kg category at the National Championships yesterday. Shiva Thapa, on the other hand, had to contend with second place as he lost to Manish Kaushik on a split decision in the 60 kg event.
Representing the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Manoj Kumar was at his best as he ousted Services Sports Control Board's Duryodhan Singh 4-1 in the final to secure his second successive gold at the event.
23-year-old, Shiva Thapa, though had to face the brunt of a split decision as the judges decided to award the first to SSCB's Manish Kaushik in the lightweight category. Shyam Kumar, also representing RSPB, managed to pull off a one-point win (3-2 ) over Nt Lalbiakkima in the final of the 49kg category to earn himself a place at the top of the podium.Â
RSPBâs Mandeep Jangra won his maiden national title by outclassing Mizoram's Vanhlimpuia 5-0 in the middleweight category while Satish did the same to Haryana's Parvin Kumar to claim the gold in the super heavyweight (+91kg) event.
While SSCB's Madan Lal edged past Goa's Santosh Harijan 3-2 in the bantamweight (56kg) division, Dheeraj Rangi was handed a walkover, in the light welterweight (64kg) category, as Basant Thapa failed to recover from an injury. Manish Panwar also clinched the 81kg gold after Neel Kamal was unable to fight in the final.
Haryanaâs Naman stood atop the heavyweight (91kg) podium with a convincing 5-0 win over Himachal Pradesh's Varinder Kumar and Salman Sheikh ousted Mizoramâs Laldinmawia to win the 52kg division.