India win 4 gold in World Youth Boxing
GUWAHATI: India’s boxers minted gold at the Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships here on Sunday, winning the first four final bouts.
The first to get India a gold medal was lightfly (45-48 kg) Nitu, whose jabs and straights proved too much for the Haryana boxer’s fancied Kazakh rival Zhazira Urakbayeva. She won by a 5:0 verdict.
China’s Yuan Nie and Ireland’s Caitlin Fryers took bronze.
“The semifinal bout was easier than the final,” Nitu said.
Haryana’s Jyoti Gulia, who had to lie to her family to learn boxing, was equally ruthless against her taller Russian rival Ekaterina Molchanova in the bantamweight (54kg) final. “She had a better reach, but I was faster on the feet,” said Jyoti, whose performance earned her a berth in the 2020 Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Kazakhstan’s Zhansaya Abdraimova got the bronze with Japan’s Rinka Kinoshita.
Haryana’s Sakshi had a tough time against England’s Ivy-Jane Smith. But she managed to land a flurry of straights in the final round to get the gold.
Japan’s Sena Irie and USA’s Isamary Acquino took bronze.
The Haryana-driven gold rush for India continued in the featherweight (57 kg) final between Sashi Chopra and Vietnam’s Hong Ngoc Do. Sashi was a slow starter, letting the Vietnamese get through her defence, but came back strongly to win by a 4:1 verdict.
SECOND TO BOOK BERTH
Sashi was the second India boxer to earn a berth for the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympics.
The bronze went to China’s Hu Cailling and Mongolia’s Namuun Mongkhon.
India can win a fifth gold in the last bout of the day featuring Ankushita Boro, who is from Assam, and Russian’s Ekaterina Dynnik.
This is India’s best performance in the women’s youth event after 2011 when Sarjubala Devi of Manipur had won the lone gold.