India’s Bishwamitra Chongtham and Vishal put up splendid performances to win gold medals at the 2021 ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Dubai on Monday.
Other Indian boxers in action in the youth men’s category, Vishvanath Suresh, Vanshaj and Jaydeep Rawat ended their campaigns with silver medals after losing their respective finals.
Living up to the favourites’ tag, the World Youth Championships medallist Bishwamitra defeated Uzbekistan’s Kuziboev Ahmadjon 4-1 in the men’s 51kg final to hand India its first gold in the youth event at the on-going championships.
The Indian boxer showed an effective defensive technique and graceful footwork against the Uzbek boxer in a match which saw both the pugilists trading some heavy blows.
However, Bishwamitra kept his cool throughout the match and hit some precise punches before clinching the the gold.
Playing in the 80kg final, Vishal too produced a dominating performance against Kyrgyzstan’s Akmatov Sanzhar. Vishal looked in good touch throughout the match as he started with an aggressive approach and hardly gave any opportunity to his opponent to score before securing an easy 5-0 win and handing India its second gold in the youth event.
Meanwhile, Vishvanath (48kg) and Vanshaj (64kg) suffered defeats by unanimous margin against their respective strong opponents. Vishvanath went down fighting against the reigning youth world champion Sanzar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan while Vanshaj lost to the Youth World Championships silver medallist Yernur Suyunbay of Kazakhstan.
On the other hand, Jaydeep lost his bout by RSC verdict against the Uzbek boxer Abdullaev Alokhon.
Later on Monday, Nivedita Karki (48kg), Tamanna (50kg), Simran Verma (52kg), Neha (54kg), Preeti (57kg), Preeti Dahiya (60kg), Khushi (63kg), Sneha Kumari (66kg), Khushi (75kg) and Tanishbir Kaur Sandhu (81kg) will fight for gold in the women’s category.
Five Indian boxers, including one woman, have claimed bronze medals in the youth event after finishing in the semi-finals. Among the men, Daksh (67kg), Deepak (75kg), Abhimanyu (92kg) and Aman Singh Bisht (92+kg) bagged bronze medals, while Lashu Yadav (70kg) ended with a bronze in the women’s category.
In the last Asian Youth Men & Women Championships, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2019, India had claimed 12 medals, including five gold.
The gold medallists in the youth category will be awarded with USD 6,000 while USD 3,000 and USD 1,500 will be given to the silver and bronze medal winners respectively. The championships witnessed the presence of pugilists from strong boxing nations like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to name a few.
It is also the first time that both the age groups – junior and youth – were played together.
On Sunday, India’s junior boxers concluded their campaign on a high note at the prestigious continental event, claiming 19 medals, including eight gold, five silver and six bronze medals. India claimed third position in the overall junior championships team rankings, after Uzbekistan (22 medals) and Kazakhstan (25 medals).
Among boys, Rohit Chamoli (48kg) and Bharat Joon (+81kg) emerged as the champions in their respective categories while Vishu Rathee (48kg), Tanu (52kg), Nikita Chand (60kg), Mahi Raghav (63kg), Pranjal Yadav (75kg) and Kirti (+81kg) clinched gold medals in the women’s section. Mahi Raghav was adjudged the best boxer.
On the other hand, Gaurav Saini (70kg), Muskan (46kg), Aanchal Saini (57kg), Rudrika (70kg) and Sanjana (81kg) claimed silver medals after their losses in the finals. Devika Ghorpade (50kg), Ashish (54kg), Aarzoo (54kg), Anshul (57kg), Ankush (66kg) and Supriya Rawat (66kg) were the Indians who finished with bronze medals.
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