Harpal Singh Bedi
It turned out to be a golden Monday for Indian women pugilists as five of them- Nivedita Karki, Shaheen Gill, Tamanna , Ravina and Muskan (75kg)- finished on the top of the podium at the Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan .
Nivedita started the golden campaign as she claimed a sensational 3-2 win over Uzbekistan’s Saidakhon Rakhmonova in 48kg final.
Tamanna earned the country second gold with a win over another Uzbek boxer Robiyankhon Bakhtiyorova by a similar margin in the 50kg title bout.
Nivedita and Tamanna had finished with silver medals in the last edition.
Shaheen and Ravina then added two more gold metals to the country’s tally with dominating triumphs by unanimous decisions against their respective Uzbek opponents.
While Shaheen (60kg) outperformed Mukhlisa Tokhirova, Ravina (63 Kg) thrashed Uzbekistan’s Sitora Bahodirova.
Muskan (75kg) produced an aggressive show against Kazakhstan’s Aidasaribarova, who found it difficult to match the Indian’s game and conceded heavy blows on her face before the referee stopped the contest in the first round and declared Muskan as the winner.
Meanwhile, Priyanka and Kirti suffered defeats in the final and concluded their campaigns with silver medals. While Priyanka went down fighting 1-4 against Kazakhstan’s Bakytseidish in the 66kg category, Kirti (+81kg) endured a 0-5 loss against Sakhobat Khusanova of Uzbekistan.
Renu (52kg), Tanisha Lamba (54kg), Prachi (57kg), Pranjal Yadav (70kg) and Sneha (81kg) are the five boxers who secured bronze medals with semi-finals finish earlier as Indian women signed off medal in each 12 categories in the youth section. .
On Sunday evening, Krrish Pal (46kg) and Yashwardhan Singh (60kg) registered impressive victories in the finals and added two more gold medals to India’s tally in the junior section.
While Krrish defeated Tajikistan’s Anishervon Fazylov by a split 4-1 verdict, Yashwardhan outclassed Mirzakamron Yunusov of Uzbekistan by unanimous decision.
Among other junior boys, Ravi Saini (48kg) and Rishab Singh (60kg) suffered defeats in their respective finals and ended up with silver medals.
With Vini (50kg), Yakshika (52kg), Vidhi (57kg), Nikita Chand (60kg), Shrishti Sathe (63kg) and Rudrika (75kg) also emerging champions in the girls’ section earlier, Indian junior team finished their successful campaign on second position with 21 medal including eight gold, seven silver and six bronze at the tournament where both the age groups of men and women—youth and junior—are being played together.
Medallists:
Youth:
Women: (Gold) Nivedita Karki (48kg), Tamanna (50kg), Shaheen Gill (60kg), Ravina (63kg), Muskan (75kg);
(Silver) Priyanka (66kg) and Kirti (+81);
(Bronze) Renu (52kg), Tanisha Lamba (54kg), Prachi (57kg), Pranjal Yadav (70kg) and Sneha (81kg).
Junior:
Girls: (Gold) Vini (50kg), Yakshika (52kg), Nikita Chand (60kg), Vidhi (57kg), Shrushti Sathe (63kg), Rudrika (75kg);
(Silver) Mahi Siwach (46kg), Palak Zambre (48kg), Supriya Devi Thokchom (54kg), Khushi Pooniya (80kg) and Nirjhara Bana (+80kg);
(Bronze) Krisha Verma (70kg)
Boys: (Gold) Krrish Pal (46kg), Yashwardhan Singh (60kg);
(Silver) Ravi Saini (48kg) and Rishabh Singh Shikharwar (80kg);
(Bronze) Jayant Dagar (54kg), Chetan (57kg), Jackson Singh Laishram (70kg), Dev Pratap Singh (75kg), Gaurav Mhaske (+80kg)