Alfiya Pathan wins gold at Adriatic Pearl youth boxing tournament; India set for double-digit medal haul
Babyrojisana Chanu and Vinka have reached the finals too
Young boxing sensation Alfiya Khan Pathan has won a gold medal for India at the 30th Adriatic Pearl tournament in Budva, Montenegro, on Saturday.
The 2019 Asian junior girls champion notched an easy 5-0 win over Daria Kozorev of Moldova in the 81+ kg category to win India's first medal at the tournament.
Indian youth boxing contingent has already put up a strong show and are set to finish with at least 12 medals.
Asian youth gold medallists Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg) and Vinka (60kg) progressed to the finals and are assured of silver medal each.
Manipur's Chanu is a product of the MC Mary Kom Academy. She was in top form in the quarterfinal bout but had to pull off a late comeback to win the semifinal against Uzbekistan's Feruza Kazakova.
Vinka also impressed in her bout with Finnish opponent Suvi Tujula. She attacked from the very first round which unsettled her opponent and the referee was forced to stop the fight in the second round. She will face Kristian Kiper of Moldova in the final on Saturday.
Ace junior boxer, Arundhati Choudhary (69kg) steamrolled her Finnish opponent Evelin Taimi 5-0 to reach the semifinals. She carried her form through in the semi clash as well, beating her opponent 5-0 again to reach the final.
Sanamacha Chanu Thokchom (75kg) also reached the final of her event after defeating Uzbekistan’s Sokhiba Ruzmetova 5-0 and will be up against Raj Sahiba of India in the summit clash.
Neha (54kg) lost her semifinal bout but Preeti (57kg), and Lucky Rana (64kg) will be hoping their fates will be different on Saturday.
Geetika (48kg) is also set to compete for gold in the final on Saturday.
However, the Indian men had little luck on their side as Arambam Naoba Singh (52kg), Sumit (69kg) and Vishal Gupta (91kg) lost their respective quarterfinal bouts.
Just two boxers in Priyanshu Dabas (49kg) and Jugnoo (91+kg) have secured a bronze medal, at least, after booking a berth in the last-four.
Meanwhile, Akash Gorkha (60kg) and Ankit Narwal (64kg), will be competing in the quarterfinals.