New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS): Having proved their mettle over two stages of the 2nd Open Talent Hunt Boxing Competition, 48 boxers including 24 elite men and 24 elite women will directly join the national camp to hone their skills further.

The selected boxers had reached the summit clash of the on-going Combined National Talent Hunt competition in Rohtak and will now rub shoulders with the top stars of Indian boxing in the camps and subsequent competitions. The competition saw over 4000 boxers from sub-junior to senior age categories showcase their skills in Noida and Guwahati across two legs.

The top eight pugilists from both the competitions slugged off in the Combined National Talent Hunt competition with the Elite and Youth category and the Junior and Sub-Junior category competition to follow.

"We are extremely happy with the level of competition we witnessed during the 2nd Open Talent Hunt competition and the way boxers from Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and some other states performed. The response to Open Talent Hunt has also given us confidence to undertake more such initiatives to spread the sport and unearth new talent," said Hemanta Kumar Kalita, Secretary General, Boxing Federation of India.

As expected, Haryana boxers dominated the gold medal tally in both elite men and elite women category but boxers from Manipur, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh also proved that they were no pushovers by winning a few gold medals in the competition.

The winners and runners-up in the youth men and women categories will get a direct entry in the National Championships and good performance there would open doors for them to the national camps.