Dubai: Six Indians In Finals Of Asian Youth Boxing

Six Indian boxers comprising two men and four women have made it to the finals of the Asian Youth Championships in Dubai.

In the women's draw, Simran Verma (52kg) and Sneha (66kg) advanced to the finals after getting walkovers from Kazakh rivals Khava Bolkoyeva and Anar Turynbek respectively.

"One of these girls tested positive for COVID-19 and the other had to be also quarantined as she was the infected girl's room partner. That's why we got walkovers in these two categories," India coach Bhaskar Bhatt told PTI.

Joining them in the finals were Preeti (57kg) and Preeti Dahiya (60kg). Preeti outclassed Narika Rai of Nepal RSC in the third round to book her final berth. Preeti Dahiya, on the other hand, defeated Uzbekistan's Rukhshona Uktamova 3-2.

Among the men, Vanshaj (64kg) defeated Iran's Faridi Abolfazl 5-0, while Vishal (80kg) outpunched Kazakhstan's Dauren Mamyr by a similar margin to move ahead.

However, Daksh (67kg) lost to Uzbekistan's Solijonoz Samandar 4-1. Also ending with bronze medals were Abhimanyu (92kg) and Aman Singh Bisht (+92kg). While Abhimanyu lost to Uzbekistan's Tokhirov Nusratbek 5-0, Bisht also went down to an Uzbek in Zokirov Jakhongir.

India's assured medal tally stood at over 20 on the day of the draws.