Image: Northeast Now

The 17th edition of Sikkim State Boxing Championship 2019 will be held from July 25 to 28 next.

The championship will be held at the Sonamati Memorial Senior Secondary School playground at Khamdong in East Sikkim.

The championship will be held in the categories for senior (men and women), junior (men and women) and sub-junior (boys and girls).

The four-day long championship is being organized by Sikkim Amateur Boxing Association (SABA) in association with Sonamati Memorial SSS, Khamdong in memory of late Damber Kumari Sharma, wife of the state health minister, M K Sharma.

Addressing a press conference in Gangtok on Wednesday, SABA president Jaslal Pradhan stated that the main objective to shift the venue of the state championship to a rural area from the capital was to further promote boxing at the grassroots level and to motivate rural talents in the game of boxing.

He expressed his hope that the championship would motivate and encourage potential rural talents from different corners of the State.

He stated that the state championship will also be taken to other constituencies to promote boxing at the grassroots level.

He informed that the championship will have more than 150 pugilists in different weight categories from all four districts.

He mentioned that gold medalists and promising pugilists in U-14 and U1-6 categories of the State championship will be shortlisted to represent Sikkim for the upcoming National School Games.

Sagar Chhetri is Northeast Now Correspondent in Gangtok. He can be reached at: [email protected]