Seven Indian pugilists roar into finals of Youth World C’ships

New Delhi, Nov 24: Indian boxers continued their dominance at the youth men’s and women’s World Championships as seven of them stormed into the finals after stunning victories in La Nucia, Spain.
Youth Asian champions Vanshaj and Vishwanath Suresh marched into the summit clash along with Ashish to maintain all-win record for India in the men’s semi-finals, whereas Kirti (+81kg), Bhawna Sharma (48kg), Devika Ghorpade (52kg) and Ravina (63kg) advanced to the finals in the women’s section.
While Vishwanath claimed 4-1 win over Juanma Lopez of Puerto Rico, Vanshaj (63.5kg) and Ashish (54kg) posted close 3-2 and 4-3 triumphs against USA’s Deshawn Crocklem and Uzbekistan’s Khujanazar Nortojiev respectively in their thrilling semi-final bouts.
Women boxers, on the other hand, recorded comfortable wins apart from Kirti’s 3-2 victory against Kazakhstan’s Assel Toktassyn.
Ravina and Bhawna outpunched their Kazakh opponents Assem Tanatar and Gulnaz Buribayeva respectively by unanimous decision. Devika got the better of USA’s Aameedah Joy with a 4-1 margin.
Meanwhile, four other Indian women in action – Tamanna (50kg), Kunjarani Devi Thongam (60kg), Muskan (75kg) and Lashu Yadav (70kg) – signed off with bronze medals after defeats in their respective semi-final bouts.
Indian boxers asserted their supremacy at the prestigious championships as 11 out of 17 quarter-finalists went on to confirm medals – highest for any country at the on-going edition, wherein close to 600 boxers have participated from 73 countries.
Uzbekistan are second with 10 confirmed medals while Ireland and Kazakhstan are placed at joint third with seven medals each.
India’s dominance in the women’s section is another highlight of the tournament as eight pugilists have secured medals which is the most for any country followed by Kazakhstan (5) and Uzbekistan (4).
Bhawna and Devika will fight for gold on Friday along with three male boxers while others will play their finals on Saturday. (PTI)