12 Indian pugilists storm into finals

New Delhi : India's junior boxers continued their fine form at the IBA Junior World Boxing Championships as 12 of them entered the finals after a stunning show in Yerevan, Armenia. Amisha (54kg) and Payal (48kg) started the day on a winning note for team India against Trigos Bucur Rocio of Romania and Bibolsynkyzy Sila of Kazakhstan, both winning the bout by a unanimous 5-0 win.

Prachi Tokas (80+kg) put up a dominant show over Osipova Mariia of Russia, forcing the referee to stop the contest in the first round itself to grab the win.

Megha (80kg) on the other hand showed a similar display of strength and power to clinch a referee stopping the contest win in round three against Tseng An Chi of Chinese Taipei.

Vini (57kg) Akansha (70kg) and Shrushti (63kg) outperformed their opponents to grab an identical 5-0 unanimous decision win to enter the finals. Vini was up against Kantzari Ouriana of Greece while Akansha and Shrushti faced Mcdonagh Mary of Ireland and K Alina of Kazakhstan respectively.

Nisha (52kg) struggled after the initial dominance in round one but soon fought back to grab an impressive 4-1 win over Russia’s Sikstus Diana. The boys put on a solid outing as four out of five boxers in action got the win. The two heavyweights Hardik Panwar (80kg) and Hemant Sangwan (80+kg) entered the finals with a comfortable 5-0 unanimous decision win against R Andrei of Belarus and K Tigran of Armenia.

Jatin (54kg) took on K. Pavel of Russia who for a moment looked like a more dominant boxer but Jatin soon took control of the game and got a 4-1 win in his favour. Sahil faced a tough challenge against D. Vladimir of Russia as both the boxers were quick in predicting each other's moves and counterattacks. The bout looked like it could go anywhere but ultimately Sahil got the win with a 3-2 split decision verdict. Neha (46kg), Nidhi (66kg), Pari (50kg), Kritika (75kg) and Sikandar (48kg) ended their campaign with bronze medals. The finals will be played on Sunday and Monday.