Gold rush for India in Dubai
It was gold rush for India at the Asian Junior Boxing Championships in Dubai with four pugilists from the country finishing on top in the finals held on Sunday.
Rohit Chamoli (48kg), Bharat Joon (+81kg), Vishu Rathee (girls 48kg), and Tanu (girls 52kg) notched up contrasting victories in their summit clashes to bag the top prize.
While Chamoli defeated Mongolia's Otgonbayar Tuvshinzaya in an intense final, Joon got the better of Kazakhstan's Yerdos Sharipbek 5-0 to finish on top.
Chamoli rallied after losing the opening round to prevail 32 in the hard-fought contest.
Joon, on the other hand, easily out-maneuvered his rival, who fizzled out after a decent start.
In another final, Gaurav Saini (70kg) signed off with a silver medal after losing 0-5 Boltaev Shavkatjon of Uzbekistan.
In the girls' competition, Rathee picked up the gold medal defeating Uzbekistan's Bakhtiyorova Robiyakhon.
After her, Tanu edged past Tomiris Myrzakul of Kazakhstan in a split 3-2 verdict.
However, Muskan (46kg) had to be content with a silver medal after being bested by another Uzbek Ganieva Gulsevar in a closely-fought bout.
Later tonight, Tanu (52kg), Aanchal Saini (57kg), Nikita (60kg), Mahi Raghav (63kg), Rudrika (70kg), Pranjal Yadav (75kg), Sanjana (81kg) and Kirti (+81kg) will be competing in the other girls' finals.
India have already won six bronze medals in the junior event after Devika Ghorpade (50kg), Aarzoo (54kg) and Supriya Rawat (66kg) lost in the girls semi-finals while Ashish (54kg), Anshul (57kg) and Ankush (66kg) also claimed bronze in the boys' event.
In the last Asian Junior Championships held in 2019 in Fujairah, UAE, India had finished third with 21 medals (six gold, nine silver and six bronze).
At the ongoing edition, the gold medallists in the junior category will be awarded with USD 4,000 while USD 2,000 and 1,000 will be given to the silver and bronze medal winners respectively.
On Monday, 15 Indian boxers will fight for gold in the youth event.