NEW DELHI, Apr 16:
Khelo India Games gold-medallist Arundhati Choudhary (69kg) advanced to the quarterfinals, while three others also notched up opening-round wins in another good day for the country’s boxers at the youth world championships for men and women in Kielce, Poland.
However, it was curtains for Vikas (52kg) and Arshi Khanam (54kg), who lost their second-round contests on Thursday.
The winners, apart from Arundhati, were Akash Gorkha (60kg), Sumit (69kg) and Gitika (48kg).
Arundhati, a three-time gold winner at Khelo India Games, got the better of Colombia’s Deyaneira Casas Jerez, winning 5-0 to set up a last-eight stage clash against Ukraine’s Anna Sezko, who got a first-round bye.
Akash defeated Germany’s Enrico Kliesch in a unanimous 5-0 decision, while Sumit out-punched Venezuela’s Rafael Antonio Perdomo in less than 5 minutes before the referee stepped in to stop the bout in the second round.
Next up for Akash is Mongolia’s Gan-Erdene Ganbaatar in the last-16 stage, while Sumit will square off against Slovakia’s Ladislav Horvath.
Gitika, on the other hand, comprehensively defeated Russia’s Diana Ermakova. She will face Kazakhstan’s Arailym Marat in the second round.
However, Vikas went down to Mongolia’s Sukhbat Enkhzorigt in a 1-4 verdict. Arshi was also beaten by a similar margin in her clash against Uzbekistan’s Nigina Uktamova.
India have fielded a 20-member team — 10 men and as many women — in the competition, which features 414 boxers from 52 countries.