New Delhi: The 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg) lived up to the expectations as he comfortably won his quarter-final bout and entered the semi-finals alongside three other Indians on the second day of the ASBC Youth & Junior Boxing Championships in Dubai.
Bishwamitra, the diminutive boxer from Manipur, was too strong for Kenzhe Muratul of Kazakhstan on Saturday. He showed swift movement and technical prowess throughout the bout before securing an easy 5-0 win and confirming himself at least a bronze with a place in the semis.
In the middleweight quarter-final, Deepak (75kg), up against Iraq’s Dhurgham Karim, dominated the proceedings from the word go. He landed a flurry of punches on his opponent in the third round and as a result, the referee had to stop the contest.
National champion Abhimanyu Loura (92kg) from Haryana also moved into the semi-finals after defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Tenibekov Sanjar in a one-sided affair. The lanky and strong Indian was declared as the winner with Referee Stopping the Contest (RSC) in the second round of the bout.
In the Women’s section, Preeti (57kg) won her bout and advanced into the semi-finals. She outperformed Mongolia’s Tugsjargal Nomin, claiming victory by RSC verdict in the second round of the match.
On the other hand, Aditya Janghu (86kg) was the lone Indian to suffer defeat on the second day as he lost to Kazakhstan’s Temrlan Mukatayev in the quarter-final bout.
On the third day of the tournament, six Indian Junior boxers will be seen in action. Krish Pal (46kg), Ashish (54kg), Anshul (57kg), Preet Malik (63kg), Bharat Joon (81+kg) will play their respective quarter-finals while Gaurav Saini (70kg) will fight in the semi-finals.
The ongoing Asian Championships will provide the much-needed competitive tournament to the promising young talents at the Asian level after a gap of almost two years lost due to the pandemic.
The gold medalists in the youth age group will receive prize money of USD 6,000 while silver and bronze medalists will claim USD 3,000 and USD 1,500 respectively.
However, the junior champions will be awarded USD 4,000 and, USD 2,000 and 1,000 for silver and bronze medalists respectively.
