New Delhi, August 31, 2021 (Boxing News): Preeti Dahiya and three other youth women boxers finished on top on the final day as the Indian contingent ended their successful campaign at the 2021 ASBC Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships with 39 medals, including 14 gold, in Dubai.
India earlier added 19 medals, including eight gold, five silver and six bronze medals, in the junior event. The youth boxers added another 20 more (six gold, nine silver and five bronze) to India’s tally at the prestigious continental event, where both the age groups junior and youth were played simultaneously for the first time.
Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg) set the benchmark by winning India’s first gold in the last seven years in the youth men’s category at the Asian Championships and Vishal (80kg) added one more top podium finish, Neha (54kg) handed the country gold in the youth women’s event played late on Monday night. She fought her way through to win against Kazakhstan’s Aishagul Yeleubayeva by split 3-2 decision.
Later, Preeti Dahiya struck another top prize with a similar victory in the 60kg final against the 2021 Youth World Championships silver medallist Zuldyz Shayakhmetova of Kazakhstan. Sneha Kumari (66kg) and Khushi (75kg) also emerged victorious in their respective finals to bag gold medals. While Sneha registered Referee Stopping the Contest (RSC) win over local favourite Rahmah Almurshidi, Khushi blanked Kazakhstan’s Dana Diday.
“This has been a brilliant outing for our junior and youth boxers. Winning 39 medals is a commendable achievement and it only shows the depth of boxing talent we have in India. As a federation, we are committed to identify and promote more and more youngsters from across the country, ensuring best coaching and guidance to groom them into future champions at the elite level. I’m sure the valuable experience gained in such a big tournament will help these boxers to curve a strong path for themselves. On behalf of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), I congratulate all the winners once again and the coaches and support staff for this successful campaign, and wish them good luck for future tournaments,” BFI President Ajay Singh said.
Meanwhile other youth boxers in the ring on the final day, Vishvanath Suresh (48kg), Nivedita Karki (48kg), Tamanna (50kg), Simran Verma (52kg), Preeti (57kg), Khushi (63kg), Vanshaj (64kg), Jaydeep Rawat (71kg) and Tanishbir Kaur Sandhu (81kg) signed off with silver medals.
Earlier five boxers, including one woman, claimed bronze medals in the youth event after finishing in the semi-finals. Among men, Daksh Singh (67kg), Deepak (75kg), Abhimanyu Loura (92kg) and Aman Singh Bisht (92+kg) bagged bronze medals while Lashu Yadav (70kg) ended with a bronze in the women’s category.
With 20 medals in the youth event, India improved from their last edition’s medals tally of 12 medals, including five gold, achieved in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2019.
The gold medallists in the youth category will be awarded with USD 6,000 while USD 3,000 and USD 1,500 will be given to the silver and bronze medal winners respectively. However, gold, silver and bronze medal winners in the junior event were awarded with USD 4,000 while USD 2,000 and 1,000 respectively.
The championships witnessed the presence of pugilists from boxing heavyweights like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to name a few. The event also served as the much needed competitive tournament for the upcoming young talents at the Asian level after a gap of almost two years, lost due to the pandemic.
Also read: India clinch six gold medals at Asian Youth Championships
