BFI Cup: Ankushita, Arundhati strike gold; Husamuddin, Vishwanath enter men’s finals

Chennai, Oct 6 (PTI) Former Youth World Champions Ankushita Boro and Arundhati Choudhary produced commanding gold-medal winning performances as the women's finals concluded at the inaugural BFI Cup here on Monday.

Ankushita (Assam) showcased her trademark aggression to edge Rajasthan’s Parthavi Grewal 3-2 in the 60–65kg category, while Arundhati (Services) stamped her authority with a dominant 5-0 win over Sneha (AIP) in the 65–70kg final.

World Championships bronze medallist Parveen Hooda (SAI) also lived up to expectations, overcoming Priya (Haryana) 3-2 in a closely fought 57–60kg bout as the Elite Women’s competition crowned its champions across ten weight divisions.

Among other results, Nivedita Karki (Uttarakhand) defeated World Championships silver medallist Manju Rani (Railways) 3-2 to clinch the 45–48kg title, while Bhavna Sharma (Railways) outclassed Savita (Railways) 5-0 in the 48–51kg final.

Maharashtra’s Khushi Jadhav edged Divya Pawar (AIP) 3-2 for gold in the 51–54kg category, and Himachal Pradesh’s Vinakshi Dhota blanked Mushkan (AIP) 5-0 in the 54–57kg division.

In the heavier classes, Monika (SAI) beat Nishu (Haryana) 4-1 to secure the 70–75kg crown, Babita Bisht (AIP) prevailed 3-2 over Komal (Punjab) in the 75–80kg final, and Ritika (SAI) overwhelmed Shivani Tomar (AIP) 5-0 to bag the 80–80+kg title.

In the men’s draw, S Vishwanath (Services) stormed into the 47–50kg final with a commanding 5-0 win over Gopi Mishra (Services).

However, Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal (Services) suffered a narrow 1-4 defeat to teammate Ashish (Services) in the 50–55kg semi-finals, while World Championships bronze medallist Mohammad Husamuddin (Services) continued his fine run, outpunching Mitesh Deswal (Railways) 5-0 in the 55–60kg category. PTI ATK AT