Guwahati: India enjoyed a dream final day in the AIBA women’s World Youth Boxing Championships at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi indoor stadium as the hosts clinched five gold medals with a cent percent win record on the day.
It was only fitting that the last bout of the tournament saw local girl Ankushita Boro (64 kg) winning by slender margin against Russia’s Ekaterina Dynnik to complete the gold rush and sending the capacity crowd into a wild celebration. The Assam boxer was also announced as the player of the tournament.
Nitu (48 kg), Nitu (48 kg), Jyoti (51 kg), Sakshi (54 kg), Shashi (57 kg) also bagged gold medals to create history and complete India’s finest ever performance in the event’s history. Apart from sweeping five golds, the hosts also earned a couple of bronze medals through Neha Yadav and Anupama.
India had won just one bronze medal at the previous edition of the event and had not won a gold since 2011 when Sarjubala Devi secured the yellow metal.
Nitu began India’s march in a far more adventurous manner than yesterday, quickly launching her combinations on Kazakhstan’s Zhazira Urakbayeva and using simple 1-2-3s to surprise the latter. The Kazhaki’s high risk game meant that she left her guard open too often, which allowed Nitu to land her jabs with her favoured left.
The Indian once again proved to be more than a match for her opponent in the second. Urakbayeva tried to land the roundhouse on at least three occasions, going for broke, but Nitu was smart on her feet to see out the danger. Once again, Nitu played to her strengths, moving clockwise and looking to land her favoured left. Compared to her previous bouts, she attacked the mid-rift region far more and it paid rich dividends.
Having done enough damage in the first two rounds, the Bhiwani boxer played it safe in the final round, maintaining distance and showed a compact guard against the more physical approach of Urakbayeva, winning by unanimous decision.
Jyoti qualifies for Youth Olympics
The fire incident soon after the opening bout did not deter Jyoti, who reserved her best for her last bout, beating Russia’s Ekatarina Molchanova by unanimous decision in the 51 kg category and thereby picking up India’s second gold of the day. The pint-sized Indian got off to a rousing start, almost startling the Russian by getting her combination in so quickly.
Molchanova was getting rooted in the corners and Jyoti played smart, landing 1-2-3s and moving out. This forced Molchanova to chase the Indian around the ring. The Haryana pugilist also came out trumps during the close range slug-fest, which were gradually increasing in number as the bout progressed.
It was only in round three that Molchanova threatened, using combinations of her own. Jyoti had done enough by then to win by unanimous decision and thereby qualify for the Youth Olympics next year.
Sakshi edges through
After registering a crushing win in the semi-finals, Sakshi faced England’s Ivy-Jane Smith in a tense bout. There was little to choose from in the first round as Sakshi once again decided to play the waiting game. Smith, light on her feet, was on the charge and forced Sakshi to revisit her strategy for the bout.
The Indian attacked in short bursts and moved out of attacks. There was plenty of clenching and back-peddling with both boxers deciding to stay away and backing their counter-punching prowess to bail them out of trouble. The third round also witnessed a similar pattern but this was where the Indian showed great resilience, waiting for opponent to open her guard. Smith cracked first and in the final minute of the third quarter, Sakshi got a couple of jabs with her right to claim the bout on points (3-2).
Shashi tested but prevails
Just like Sakshi, Shashi too saw her most formidable challenge in the summit clash of the 57 kg category. Vietnam’s Do Hong Ngoc was quick on her feet and neither of them wanted to open their guard. This meant that the players played from a distance.
What helped Shashi in such a cagey battle was her reach, which helped her land a couple of jabs in the second round but attacks were few and far between. The final round bore a stark similarity to the first but Shashi saw out a win by points (4-1).
The evening also witnessed some top class boxing from Russia’s Anastasia Shamanova, who pumelled England’s Georgia O’Connor to win by unanimous decision in the 75 kg category. The Russian was easily one of the stand-out performers, winning each of her bouts with consummate ease.