Pune
Boxer Gaurav Bidhuri will be among the 360 boxers vying for the top honours in the National Men’s Championship starting on Saturday which will be skipped by top stars such as Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan.

More than 30 state teams and units will be in action at the event where the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) will be the defending champions. Bidhuri will be competing for RSPB, which will also feature Naman Tanwar (91kg). “It is a big comeback for me after missing out on big events in the last one year. I am going to make it count,” Bidhuri, who was upset at being denied a trial for both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, said.

Also there in the Railways team is Sachin Siwach , a former world youth champion. RSPB will be missing veteran Manoj Kumar (69kg), who got married earlier this month. Services Sports Control Board also features a fairly strong team which includes the likes of Manish Kaushik (60kg), and Satish Kumar among others. SSCB would be without Amit Panghal . Panghal will get a direct entry into the national camp owing to his Asian Games gold. Shiva Thapa (60kg) too has decided to skip the tournament this time.