Boxing, a dying sport in Odisha, found a new lease of life with an eight-member state squad bagging one gold and six bronze medals in the 29th Sub-junior Men National Boxing Championship, held at Lal Bahadur Indoor Stadium in Hyderbad from September 27 to 30, 2017.
Anil Kumar Jena won the gold medal in 54-57kg (15-16 years) category, beating Kulbir Singh of Gujarat in the hard-fought final 3-2. Jitendra Kumar Mohanty (14 yrs, 40-42kg), Mohammad Tukan (14yrs, 46-48kg), Anil Kumar Nayak (12yrs) (32-34kg), Kishor Kumar Pradhan (14yrs, 54-57kg), Rajesh Munda (13yrs, 36-38kg) and Sanjeeb Naik (12yrs, 36-38kg) secured the six bronze medals after losing in respective semifinal bouts.