Jharkhand’s Snha Kumari and Shivani won the gold medals in their respective weight categories of the Elite Women’s competition in the second REC Talent Hunt competition for Elite and Youth men and women at the SAI Paltan Bazaar Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday.
Their victories underlined how the REC Talent Hunt initiative, a joint effort of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), REC Limited, and Sports Authority of India (SAI), demonstrated how the talent hunt programme is helping unearth fresh boxing talent from across the country.
In the elite women’s category, Jharkhand’s Snha got the better of Manipur’s Thoudam 4-1 in the 54-57kg category while state-mate Shivani got a unanimous verdict against Pratibha Dagar of Haryana in the 66-70kg.
Ten different states won a gold medal in the 12 weight categories in elite women. In comparison, eight states shared the top spot in the ten youth women’s weight categories.
One of the primary reasons behind this transformation has been BFI’s decision to allot direct entries to gold and silver medallists of the combined Nationals Talent Hunt, where top boxers from the first leg in Noida and the second leg in Guwahati will compete in the National Championships and, if selected, will get direct entry in the National Camp.
Increased participation
Reflecting on this year’s talent hunt programme Hemanta Kalita, the secretary general of the BFI, said the programme has appeared as a big boost to Indian boxing.
“This year’s talent hunt has seen a remarkable increase in the number of boxers, showcasing a fresh and high-quality talent pool,” said Kalita in a BFI release.
“By granting national camp entry to the winners of the combined event, we have significantly enhanced the impact of this Talent Hunt Programme, instilling greater hope among boxers nationwide. The Boxing Federation of India is optimistic that this initiative with the support of REC will uncover new and formidable talent, poised to bring glory to our country on the world stage in the years to come,” he added.
This was the second edition of the REC Talent Hunt program with the first leg of this year’s competition concluding in Noida last month.
The competition will be followed by the Junior and Sub-Junior competition and the top eight boxers in each category of the two events will participate in the combined national finals in Rohtak.
While the women’s category was an open field for all participating states, the Elite and Youth men competition was dominated by the Haryana boxers with the domestic powerhouse bagging six of the 12 gold medals in men and eight of the 10 in youth events.
About 600 boxers took part in the Elite and Youth competition this week and another 600 will be competing in the junior and sub-junior categories.
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