Bishwamitra Chongtham, Vishal clinch gold in Asian youth boxing

World youth bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg) and Vishal (80kg) struck gold, while three other Indian male boxers signed off with silver medals in the Asian Youth Championships in Dubai on Monday.

Chongtham defeated Uzbekistan’s Kuziboev Ahmadjon 4-1, staving off a stiff challenge. Vishal, on the other hand, out-punched Kyrgyzstan’s Akmatov Sanzhar 5-0 to finish on top.

However, Vishvanath Suresh (48kg), Vanshaj (63.5kg) and Jaydeep Rawat (71kg) ended with silver medals.

Suresh lost 0-5 to reigning youth world champion Sanzar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan.

Vanshaj was also beaten 0-5 by Yernur Suyunbay of Kazakhstan in his summit clash.

Rawat did not complete his bout against Uzbek Abdullaev Alokhon, whose pounding left the Indian visibly shaken and mostly off-balance in the opening round itself.

In the last edition of Asian Youth Championships, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India had claimed 12 medals, including five gold.

Earlier in the junior competition, held simultaneously, the Indian girls snared half a dozen gold medals as the country ended with whopping eight gold, five silver and six bronze.

Out of the 10 girls in the finals, six ended with gold medals, while four others claimed a silver each. Among the boys, three were in the finals and two of them signed off with gold medals.

India’s tally of gold medals was equal to traditional powerhouse Kazakhstan and just one less than another heavyweight Uzbekistan.

Rohit Chamoli (48kg) and Bharat Joon (+81kg), Vishu Rathee (girls 48kg), and Tanu (girls 52kg) were the early gold medallists before others joined in following late night wins on Sunday.

Nikita Chand (60kg), Mahi Raghav (63kg), Pranjal Yadav (75kg) and Kirti (+81kg) picked up their yellow metals in the later bouts.

Kirti won against Shugyla Rysebek of Kazakhstan in a 4-1 split decision. Raghav (63kg) also fetched a split 3-2 decision against Algerim Kabdolda of Kazakhstan.

Chand outperformed Assem Tanatar of Kazakhstan, while Yadav defeated another Kazakh in Akzhan in a spilt 4-1 decision.

Rudrika (70kg) went down 1-4 against Uzbek Oysha Toirova and Sanjana (81kg) endured a 0-5 loss against Kazakhstan’s Umit Abilkaiyr.

Aanchal Saini (57kg) also went down 0-5 against Ulzhan Sarsenbek of Kazakhstan to end with a silver medal.

India’s six bronze medals came after Devika Ghorpade (50kg), Aarzoo (54kg) and Supriya Rawat (66kg) lost in the girls semi-finals while Ashish (54kg), Anshul (57kg) and Ankush (66kg) exited in the boys’ last-four stage.

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 were awarded with $4,000 while $2,000 and 1,000 were given to the silver and bronze medal winners respectively.