New Delhi, April 21
Babyrojisana Chanu was the star of the evening as she outclassed defending European champion Alexas Kubicka in the quarterfinal of boxing’s Youth World Championships in Kielce, Poland. In all, seven boxers from India stormed into the semifinals on Day 7 of the event.
Apart from 51kg specialist Chanu, Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), Sanamacha Chanu (75kg), Ankit Narwal (64kg), Vishal Gupta (91kg), Bishwamitra Chongtham (49kg) and Sachin (56kg) assured themselves of at least a bronze by advancing to the semifinals.
Four other Indian boxers had made it to the semifinals earlier, so the 20-member Indian contingent is assured of 11 medals in the championship. On Day 6, Vinka, Alfiya, Gitika and Poonam had advanced to the semifinals.
Continental clash
In a clash between two strong gold contenders in the women’s 51kg category, Asian youth champion Chanu put up a strong tactical performance, blanking European champion Kubicka 5-0. The Manipuri boxer will take on Lucia Ayari of Italy in the semifinals.
Arundhati and Sanamacha were also dominant in their quarterfinals wins. While Arundhati outpunched Ukraine’s Anna Sezko 5-0, Sanamacha sent Russia’s Margarita Zueva packing, the referee stopping the contest in the second round.
In the men’s category, Asian junior champion Bishwamitra and Asian Youth Championship silver medallist Narwal also lived up to the expectations, notching up easy 5-0 victories against Serbian Omer Ametovic and Brazil’s Ezequiel Da Cruz, respectively.
Manish (75kg) and Sumit (69kg) were the only two Indian boxers who suffered defeats in the quarterfinals.
With seven women in the semifinals, India is currently placed at the top of the table alongside Russia with the highest number of boxers qualifying for that stage.
In the men’s section, India is placed fourth with four boxers in the semifinals.
