GUWAHATI, May 20 - Indian boxers dominated the opening day of the 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament being hosted by the Assam Amateur Boxing Association under the aegis of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) here at the Karmabir Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Sarusajai Sports Complex.
Rising Indian boxer Sachin Siwach (52kg) outboxed his Argentinian opponent Ramon N Quiroga in an unanimous 5-0 verdict. Sachin was quite aggressive from the first round itself and the Argentinian boxer virtually surrendered meekly as he was seen busy in defending.
Anamika (51kg) forced referee to stop the competition as her opponent Claudine D Veloso from Philippines was simply receiving punch after punch in the first two rounds and finally referee had no alternative but to stop the proceedings.
In another women�s 51kg match, Jyoti earned a facile 4-1 victory against IA Magno of Philippines. The Indian boxer was comfortable from the opening bout and cornered the verdict in her favour quite comfortably.
Manisha Moun was another Indian boxer who defeated Nesthy A Petesio of Nepal 4-1 in the 57kg category. Like other Indian women, Manisha also showed terrific skill and comfortably overcame her opponent�s defence. The Nepal boxer was poor in attacking the sturdy Manisha throughout the three rounds.
Preeti Beniwal gave India another victory defeating Sangita Sonar of Nepal by a 5-0 verdict in 60kg group while in the last bout of the day Shashi Chopra outplayed Tanden Chooen of Bhutan 5-0 in the 60kg category.
Local girl Lovlina Borgohain and Anjali are already assured of medals in 69kg while Bhagyabati Kachari and Saweety Boora are through to the last-four in 75kg by virtue of a first round bye.
�We have at least a couple of Indian boxers in each category and the competition is very close. It will be a very interesting tournament and the exposure for the boxers will stand them in good stead ahead of the World Championships,� Raffaele Bergamasco, the Performance Director of Indian women�s boxing, said.
In the men�s events, Thailand�s Chatchai Decha Butdee (56kg) and Philippine�s Mario Fernandez (56kg) won their respective matches against Surendra Rai of Nepal (5-0) and Mirco Jehial Cuello (5-0) of Argentina respectively.
Earlier, State Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya formally inaugurated the championship where boxers from 10 countries are taking part. BFI secretary general Joy Kohli was also present on the occasion. Organising chairman Lakhya Konwar welcomed the gathering while State boxing body secretary Hemanta Kumar Kalita offered the vote of thanks.
