World Cadet Champion Vipin advances in debut Nationals

PUNJAB: On a day that belonged to debutantes, World Cadet Champion Vipin Kumar announced his arrival at the senior level in a resounding fashion by advancing to the second round of the 55th National Boxing Championships on Sunday.
Vipin, 18, a multiple-time junior national champion representing Uttarakhand, scored a 9-6 win over Chandigarh's Paramjeet Singh to enter the second round of the light fly weight (48kg) category.
Apart from winning the gold medal at last year's World Cadet Championship, Vipin had also been named the best boxer of the event, a first for any Indian.
In fact, International Boxing Federation President Ching-Kuo Wu had personally congratulated him for his performance after the championship.
Vipin showed that he was now ready to storm the senior level. Throwing caution to wind, Vipin relied solely on his reflexes and sharp counter-punching to out-think Paramjeet, whose wild hooks failed to connect.
Vipin's in-ring persona was reminiscent of his inspiration Akhil Kumar, the Olympic quarter-finalist, and he kept his guard down throughout the bout. But lightening quick reflexes meant that Paramjeet was unable to take advantage of his open stance.
Asked whether he draws inspiration from Akhil, Vipin said, "Kuch aisa hi hai (it is like that)."
Another light fly weight debutant, Madhya Pradesh's Umesh Yadav, a bronze medallist at the World Cadet Championship, defeated All India Police's Dilip S Negi 19-13.
Meanwhile, defending champion Railways continued their winning run with Manwar Hussain advancing to the second round in the light fly weight category.
Hussain beat Andhra Pradesh's S Ramu 22-9 in a lopsided bout.
M Suresh (54kg) then defeated Goa's V Naik 17-7 to continue Railways' fine show.
In other results, Delhi-boxer Madan Lal advanced to the second round of the light fly weight division with a 21-6 win over Assam's Bikash Shah, while Tripura's R Lalthazuala out-punched Tamil Nadu's P Raghuvaran 30-6 to enter the second round of the light fly weight category.
In the bantam weight division, Uttarakhand's Amit Kumar Singh pummelled Nagaland's Alam 23-3 in the first round.
Doha Asian Games quarter-finalist, Sanjay Kolte also advanced with an easy 15-0 win over Chattisgarh's M Krishna.