India Open Boxing | MC Mary Kom, Sarita Devi and Amit Panghal clinch gold on final day

Six-time world amateur boxing champion MC Mary Kom and veteran boxer L Sarita Devi were at the forefront for the Indian boxing contingent as they both bagged gold in their respective weight categories on the final day of the India Open Boxing tournament which concluded on Friday.

World championship medallist Sarita Devi won her first gold as she beat rising star Simranjit Kaur 3-2 by virtue of a split decision. Devi, who had to settle for bronze in the Asian Championship earlier this year, had last won a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games in Shillong. 

Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom had to give her all as she went up against former national champion Vanlal Duati of Mizoram but ultimately was declared a winner by unanimous decision. Nikhat Zareen and Jyoti took the bronze medals for an all-Indian finish on the podium. 

In the men’s section, Asian Games gold medalist Amit Panghal ended a strong challenge from giant killer Sachin Siwach to clinch the gold medal by a split 4-1 verdict in the highly-competitive 52kg men’s category final.

Overall, the Indian boxing contingent completed a clean sweep in four men’s categories (52kg, 81kg, 91kg and +91kg) and three in women’s (51kg, 57kg and 75kg) which took their tournament tally to 12 medals from a possible 18 in this year’s edition of the India Open.