Six gold medals for India at Asian Youth Championships
What's the story
Indian boxers dominated the Asian Youth Championships, notching up six gold medals along with nine silver and five bronze in the event where the women's competition was significantly depleted due to pullouts caused by COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Preeti Dahiya (60kg), Sneha Kumari (66kg), Khushi (75kg), and Neha (54kg) clinched gold medals in the women's draw, which shrunk after several teams fielded smaller squads.
Finalists
Of the 10 women finalists, six directly made the finals
Several teams had fielded smaller squads because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions. Of the 10 women finalists, six directly made the finals because of the small size of their respective draws. Preeti defeated Kazakhstan's Zuldyz Shayakmetova 3-2, while Sneha pummelled UAE's Rahmah Khalfan Almurshidi to force a stoppage. Khushi defeated Kazakhstan's Dana Diday 3-0 in bouts held late last night.
Competition
Bishwamitra and Vishal were gold winners in the men's competition
World youth bronze-medalist Bishwamitra Chongtham (51kg) and Vishal (80kg) were the gold winners in the men's competition. The silver winners among the women were Preeti (57kg), Khushi (63kg), Tanisha Sandhu (81kg), Nivedita (48kg), Tamanna (50kg), and Simran (52kg). Vishvanath Suresh (48kg), Vanshaj (63.5kg), and Jaydeep Rawat (71kg) ended with silver medals in the men's competition.
Event
Lashu Yadav ended with a bronze in the women's category
Five Indian boxers, including one woman, had earlier claimed bronze medals in the youth event after losing in the semi-finals. Among men, Daksh (67kg), Deepak (75kg), Abhimanyu (92kg), and Aman Singh Bisht (92+kg) bagged bronze medals while Lashu Yadav (70kg) ended with a bronze in the women's category. In the last edition of the championships, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India had claimed 12 medals.
Awards
Gold medalists in the youth category were awarded $6,000
Out of the 12 medals won by India in the last edition, five were gold. The gold medalists in the youth category were awarded $6,000 while $3,000 and $1,500 were given to the silver and bronze medal winners respectively. India had earlier won eight gold, five silver, and six bronze medals in the junior competition which was held simultaneously for the first time.