Indian pugilists posted a historic performance at AIBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships as 8 boxers, including seven women and 1 male boxer sailed into final on eighth day in Kielce, Poland.
All the 7 Indian women boxers had put up a flawless performance as the pugilists had won their bouts as they progressed into the finals and will be aiming to add the yellow metal to their name. In the first bout of the day, Gitika (48kg) set the tone for the Indian contingent with a resounding 5-0 win over Italy’s Erika Prisciandaro. She will take on Poland’s Natalia Dominika in the final. In another bout, 2019 Asian Youth Champion Babyrojisana Chanu (51 kg) made light work of Italy’s Elen Ayari and won the match comfortably.
The Manipuri Boxer attacked with a lot of intensity and earned a unanimous 5-0 verdict in her favour. She will square off against Russia’s Valeria Linkova in finals on Thursday. Poonam continued her unbeaten international record as she blanked Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova 5-0 to set up the summit clash with France’s Sthelyne Grosy.
Vinka (60kg) put up an equally impressive show to secure a 4-1 win over Veronika Gajdova of The Czech Republic. She will be up against Kazakhstan’s Zhuldyz Shayakhmetova in the gold medal bout. Rajasthan’s Arundhati Choudhary (69kg) too outpunched her opponent from Uzbekistan, Khadichabonu Abdullaeva to register an easy 5-0 victory in the semis. She will take on Poland’s Barbara Marcinkowska in the final clash.
In the 75 kg middleweight semi-final clash, Sanamcha Chanu endured some early resistance from local girl Daria Parada of Poland but Chanu came back strongly in the last two rounds to win the bout with a split verdict (4-1). She will take on Kazakhstan’s Dana Diya in the gold medal match. Alfiya Pathan faced tough competition from Poland’s Oliwia Toborek as she couldn’t find her rhythm in the initial round. In second round, she went all-out attack and continued her onslaught in the next round as well and in the process, landed more punches than her opponent to prevail in a 3-2 split verdict in a busy and intense bout. WITH ANI INPUTS
