Despite losing their last fights, Prachi Tokas, Hardik Panwar, and Amisha Keretta—all three Indian boxers—came away with silver medals at the IBA Junior World Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia.
In a closely fought match on Sunday, Hardik—the 80 kg Asian junior champion—lost to his Russian opponent, Ashurov Bairamkhan, by a score of 2-3.
The battle was exciting to watch since both competitors were active and took advantage of every opportunity to score points. The Russian, nevertheless, managed to do just enough to secure a victory.
Amisha (54 kg) and Prachi (+80 kg) both went down in their most recent bouts by scores of 0-5. The Kazakh Ayazhan Sydyk won the match against Amisha, while the Uzbek Prachi lost a tough match against the two-time Asian junior champion Sobirakhon Shakhobiddinova.
So far in this tournament, India has collected 17 medals, five of which are bronze. Payal (48 kg), Nisha (52 kg), Vini (57 kg), Shrushti (63 kg), Akansha (70 kg), Megha (80 kg), Jatin (54 kg), Sahil (75 kg), and Hemant (80 kg+) are the nine national pugilists who will vie for gold on Monday, the last day of the event.
Neha (46 kg), Nidhi (66 kg), Pari (50 kg), Kritika (75 kg), and Sikandar (48 kg) had all earned bronze medals after completing their campaigns in the quarterfinals.
Both Pari (50 kg) and Nidhi (66 kg), who won gold in the Asian junior boxing championships, advanced to the quarterfinals with unanimous 5-0 decisions over their respective opponents, Muller Micaela of Romania and Kao Chun Ai of China Taipei.
Due to Prachi Tokas’s overwhelming performance at 80+kg, the referee intervened in the first round of their match, stopping the Russian opponent, Osipova Mariia. As a result of the referee stopping the bout, Megha (80 kg) defeated Tseng An Chi (Chinese Taipei) in round three with identical power and strength. The 57-kilogram Vini, 70-kilogram Akansha, and 63-kilogram Shrushti made it to the finals with a 5-0 unanimous decision win. While Akansha took on Ireland’s Mcdonagh Mary, Shrushti took on Kazakhstan’s K. Alina, and Vini faced Greece’s Kantzari Ouriana.
A 52-kilogram Nisha rebounded from a second-round loss to beat Russia’s Sikstus Diana 4-1. With four out of five boxers competing taking home victories, the boys put up a solid performance. Heavyweights Hardik Panwar (80 kg) and Hemant Sangwan (80 kg+) made it to the finals with 5-0 unanimous decision victories against Belarusian R Andrei and Armenian K Tigran.
Although Russian boxer K Pavel seemed to be in the lead early on, 54-kilogram Jatin eventually prevailed 4-1. Sahil and Russian boxer D Vladimir were both very good at understanding the other’s moves and counterattacks, therefore the bout was tough. Even though it seemed like the fight might go any way, Sahil ended up winning by 3-2 split decision. At the IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Championships, two Indian boxers—Devika Ghorpade and Preeti Dahiya—moved on to the quarterfinals after scoring decisive victories.
