Harpal Singh Bedi
Gaurav Saini overwhelmed Kyrgyzstan’s Zakirov Mukhamaadaziz to move into the 70kg final, while two other Indians Rohit Chamoli (48kg) and Ankush (66kg) secured semi-finals berths in the junior boys’ event at the ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships in Dubai.
Three other Indians Ashish (54kg), Anshul (57kg), and Bharat Joon (+81kg), too, put up impressive performances to progress into the last-4 stage on the third day of the prestigious continental event.
The boxer from Haryana, Gaurav controlled the fight and fended off some resistance from his Kyrgyz opponent to record a 4-1 win in the light middleweight category.
Ashish and Anshul also dominated their bouts against Rahmanov Jafar from Tajikistan and local favourite Mansoor Khaled respectively.
Ashish recorded a comfortable 5-0 win against Rahmanov Jafar. While Anshul with strong blows and continuous attack pulverized Khaled and that forced referees to stop the contest in the first round of the match itself (RSC)
On the other hand, Bharat had to work hard during his narrow 3-2 win in the hard-fought quarter-final against another Uzbek pugilist Kenesbaev Aynazar Tolybae.
Meanwhile, Krrish Pal (46kg) and Preet Malik (63kg) lost their respective bouts.
Vishvanathth Suresh (48kg), Victor Shaikhom Singh (54kg), Vijay Singh (57kg), Rabichandra Singh (60kg), Vanshaj (64kg), Daksh Singh (67kg) and Jaydeep Rawat (71kg), will fight in the quarter-finals on the fourth day, looking to confirm medals for themselves.
It is the first time that both the age groups—junior and youth—are being played together in the Asian Championships.
India boxers have already assured the country of more than 25 medals in the event which has been witnessing competition in the presence of pugilists from strong boxing nations such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to name a few..