Five Indian youth boxers strike gold in Asian U-22 & Youth Boxing C'ships

Astana (Kazakhstan), May 6: Five young Indian boxers, Brijesh Tamta, Aryan Hooda, Yashwardhan Singh, Laxmi and Nisha, came up with impressive performances to clinch gold medals in the ASBC Asian U-22 & Youth Boxing Championships 2024 in here on Monday.

Brijesh won India's first gold medal of the tournament with a unanimous 5-0 win over Tajikistan’s Muminov Muinkhodzha in the men’s 48kg final. Aryan (51kg) added to the momentum with an equally dominant 5-0 victory against Kyrgyzstan's Kamilov Zafarbek.

Yashwardhan Singh (63.5kg) had to work hard against Gafurov Ruslan of Tajikistan as both boxers showed great attacking intent but it was the Indian who ultimately clinched victory with a 4-1 verdict.

In the women’s category, reigning junior World Champion Nisha grabbed the yellow metal in the 52kg category as she outperformed Kazakhstan’s Otynbay Bagzhan for a 5-0 win. Later, Laxmi (50kg) won India’s fifth gold medal with a Referee Stops the Contest (RSC) win in the second round of the bout against Enkh Nomundari of Mongolia.

Meanwhile, nine youth boxers, Sagar Jakhar (60kg), Priyanshu (71kg), Rahul Kundu (75kg), Aryan (92kg), Tamanna (54kg), Nikita Chand (60kg), Shrushti Sathe (63kg), Rudrika (75kg) and Khushi Pooniya (81kg) ended campaigns with silver medals after losing in their respective finals.

On Saturday night, Olympics-bound boxer Preeti (54kg) entered the U-22 final as did five other Indian women. With, Muskan (75kg) and Alfiya Pathan (81kg) already in the finals after receiving byes in their respective semifinals, the country's eight women and four men pugilists will compete in the U-22 finals on Tuesday.

With 22 medals in the youth section and 21 in the U-22, the Indian contingent has secured 43 medals at the prestigious tournament which has been witnessing high-voltage action with the presence of 390-plus boxers from more than 24 countries, including strong boxing nations such as China, India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan fighting for the medals across 25 weight categories.