Harpal Singh Bedi
Vishwanath Suresh and Anand Yadav came up with a gritty performances to storm into the finals of Asian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan on Friday.
Vishwanath and Anand raised their games at the crucial time to overpower Uzbek opponents intensely-fought matches
Vishwanath (48kg) confirmed his second successive final appearance at the prestigious continental tournament after beating Miralijon Mavlonov by a split 4-1 decision.
On the other hand, in the thrilling 54 kg semi-finals, Anand gave his all to secure a tough 3-2 win over Abduvali Buriboev.
The last edition’s silver medallist Vishwanath will take on Kyrgyz boxer Ergeshov Bekzat in the final while Anand will fight against Eljay Pamisa of Philippines.
In the junior boys’ section, Yashwardhan Singh and Rishabh Singh Shikharwar registered contrasting wins in the semi-finals late on Thursday night while five other boxers, Jayant Dagar (54kg), Chetan (57kg), Jackson Singh Laishram (70kg), Dev Pratap Singh (75kg), Gaurav Mhaske (+80kg), exited with bronze medals after losses in the Last-4 stage.
Yashwardhan (60kg) outperformed Kazakhstan’s Alexey Khavantsev 5-0 while Rishabh (80kg) secured a close 4-1 win against Choibekov Azim of Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile Raman ended his campaign with a bronze medal following a 0-5 loss to Uzbekistan’s Khujanazar Nortojiev in the 51kg semi-final.
Indian boxers have secured 18 medals in the youth section, 12 in women and six in men categories. Among women, seven have sealed finals berths at the tournament where both the age groups of men and women—youth and junior—are being played together.
The finals will be played on March 13 and 14.