Asian Championship bronze medallists Jitender Kumar (51kg) and Dilbag Singh (69kg) led the charge as Railways regained the National Boxing Championship after a gap of two years with six gold, a silver and two bronze medals here on Thursday.
Railways had a field day with all their boxers except for M Suresh (57kg) winning their final bouts to regain the championship from Services, who had to settle for the runners-up trophy.
Welterweight gold medal winner Dilbag Singh, a Railwayman, was adjudged the best boxer of the meet. The 26-year-old outscored Jharkhand’s Gurpal Singh 23-3 in the second round to clinch his maiden Senior National title.
“I won the Federation Cup gold this year and was the best boxer there as well. Having won the Asian Championship bronze, I don’t think I ever had it so good,” an elated Dilbag said.
Railways were off the blocks impressively with World Cadet Champion in the light flyweight category, Balbir Singh, beating Assam Rifles’ Bishwajeet 33-11 to claim the first gold for his team.
Another Asian Championship bronze medallist, Jitender Kumar, then continued the gold rush by decimating Chandigarh’s Mukesh Kumar 31-13 in the flyweight category.
The bantamweight title went to All India Police’s S Suresh, a former Olympian who had been laid low by illness a year ago.
Suresh hardly gave a chance to Meghalaya’s Torak as he dominated from the very start to come out on top 29-19.
The only setback for Railways came in the 57kg category, where Services’ AL Lakra outscored Suresh.
However, Jai Bhagwan brought back smiles for the cheering Railways’ supporters by beating Services’ K K T Singh 24-18 in the 60kg category.
In one of the most tightly-contested bouts, Jai Bhagwan was warned for dangerous play, but he hardly let that affect him as he ensured a third gold medal for the hosts. Som Bahadur Pun capped his remarkable comeback after a year away by claiming the gold medal in 64kg category.