Gaurav Saini in final, 3 others in semis of Asian junior boxing

New Delhi, August 23

Gaurav Saini (70kg) advanced to the final while three other Indian boxers entered the last-four stage after contrasting victories in the Asian Junior Championships in Dubai.

Saini defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Zakirov Mukhammadaziz 4-1 to enter the summit clash on Sunday night. The tournament is being held simultaneously for the youth and junior boxers (both men and women) for the first time.

Entering the semifinals were Ashis (54kg), Anshul (57kg) and Bharat Joon (+81kg).

Ashis outpunched Tajikistan’s Rahmanov Jafar 5-0, while Anshul pummelled UAE’s Mansoor Khaled in his quarterfinal bout which was stopped in the first round itself due to the Indian’s dominance.

Joon eked out a 3-2 triumph over Uzbekistan’s Kenesbaev Aynazar.

However, it was curtains for Krish Pal (46kg) and Preet Malik (63kg).

Pal was no match for Uzbekistan’s Bakhtiyor Yakhshiboev, who outclassed him by the second round forcing the referee to stop the contest.

Malik went down 2-3 to Kyrgyzstan’s Eldar Esembaev.

More than 20 medals were assured for India on the day of draws itself as COVID-19 travel restrictions kept several counties away leading to small size of the draws.

The gold medallists in the youth category will receive prize money of USD 6,000 while silver and bronze medallists will claim USD 3,000 and USD 1,500 respectively.

The junior champions will be awarded with USD 4,000 for gold and USD 2,000 and 1,000 for silver and bronze medallists respectively. PTI