Pugilist Sachin lands 8th gold

New Delhi, April 23: Indian boxer Sachin (56kg) on Friday added an unprecedented eighth gold to the country’s historic medal haul at the youth world championships in Kielce, Poland, a day after all seven women swept the top honours in an astonishing performance.

Sachin rallied to defeat Kazakhstan’s Yerbolat Sabyr 4-1 in a gritty performance by the end of which his confident opponent was left with a bloodied face and exhausted body.

The Indian was off to a spirited start and was definitely impressive with his counter-attacks but the Kazakh clinched the opening round 3-2.

Sachin intensified his attacks after the break with his right straights fetching him the points. He drew level by getting a split verdict in his favour in the second round.

The final round belonged to the relentless Sachin as Sabyr ran out of steam.

India thus ended their campaign with 11 medals — eight gold and three bronze medals to claim the top spot in overall standings.

This was an improvement on two gold, two silver and six bronze medals claimed at the event’s 2018 edition.

On Thursday, Gitika (48kg), Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), Poonam (57kg), Vinka (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), Thokchom Sanamachu Chanu (75kg) and Alfiya Pathan (+81kg) ensured a perfect finish to the women’s campaign.

Earlier, Asian youth silver-winner Ankit Narwal (64kg), Bishwamita Chongthom (49kg) and Vishal Gupta (91kg) ended with bronze medals following semifinal losses in the men’s draw.

Sachin is the first Indian male boxer since 2016 to finish on top. It was his namesake Sachin Siwach, now a senior camper, who fetched a gold in that edition.

India fielded a 20-member team — 10 men and as many women — in this year’s event which featured 414 boxers from 52 countries.

“This has been an amazing effort from our youth boxers especially when the players had to be confined at home for most part of the last year and only make do with online training sessions,” said Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh. —