Rohit Chamoli, Ankush and Gaurav Saini were among the six Indian boxers who registered victories on the opening day of the ASBC Youth & Junior Boxing Championships here on Saturday.
In the junior boys’ category, Rohit (48kg), Ankush (66kg) and Gaurav (70kg) claimed confident victories against their respective opponents and confirmed medals for the country by securing semifinal berths.
Chandigarh’s Rohit outclassed Alhassan Qadous Sriya 5-0, while Ankush blanked Bader Shehab from Kuwait 5-0. Haryana’s Gaurav too put up a dominating show against another Kuwaiti boxer Yaqoub Saadallah before he was declared winner with ‘referee stopping the contest’ (RSC) in the second round of the bout.
Ashish (54kg), Anshul (57kg) and Preet Malik (63kg) were the other three junior pugilists to emerge victorious in their respective opening-round matches.
Yashwrdhan Singh (60kg), Usman Mohd Sultan (50kg), Naksh Beniwal (75kg) and Rishabh Singh (81kg) suffered defeats in their respective preliminary bouts.
The 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medallist Bishwamitra Chongtham will begin his campaign in the continental event as six youth Indian boxers will be seen in action on the second day on Sunday.
Apart from Bishwamitra, Daksh Singh (67kg), Deepak (75kg), Aditya Janghu (86kg) and Abhimanyu Loura (92) will play their opening round matches, while among women, Preeti (57kg) will kick off her challenge.
The ongoing Asian Championships will provide the much-needed competitive tournament to the promising talent at the Asian level after a gap of almost two years. The event has been witnessing thrilling action in the presence of pugilists from strong boxing nations like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, to name a few.
The gold medallists in the youth age group will receive prize money of USD 6,000 while silver and bronze medallists will get USD 3,000 and USD 1,500 respectively. The junior champions will be awarded USD 4,000, while USD 2,000 and 1,000 will be given to the silver and bronze medallists.