New Delhi: Riding on solid performances, Asian youth medallists Deepak and Vanshaj made winning starts to their campaigns and maintained India’s unbeaten run on the opening day of the IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships 2022 in La Nucia, Spain.
This came after Vishwanath Suresh opened India’s campaign with an impressive win earlier in the day.
Deepak came out all guns blazing in the men’s 75kg bout and took just over a minute to outperform his Albanian opponent Useid Nika with the Referee Stops Contest verdict.
Vanshaj, on the other hand, also began in a similar fashion and looked in complete control against Uzbekistan’s Boltaev Shavkatjon in the 63.5kg opening round match. His dominating display throughout the contest made all five judges vote in his favour as he registered a resounding 5-0 win.
Haryana boys Vanshaj and Deepak had clinched gold and bronze medals respectively in the ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships, held in Jordan earlier this year.
Five Indians, including two men, will begin their challenge on the second day of the prestigious championships.
While Lashu Yadav (70 kg) and Pranjal Yadav (81 kg) will play their Round-of-16 matches against Poland’s Marta Czerwinska and Uzbekistan’s Oltinoy Sotimboeva respectively, Preeti Dahiya (57kg) will take on Colombia’s Claudia Daniela in the Round-of-32.
In the men’s section, Ashish will face Iran’s Nima Bayati in Round-of-32 whereas Harsh will be up against Hungary’s Levente Olah in the 60kg Round of 64.
Indian boxers produced a historic show in the last edition of the championships when they bagged 11 medals, including eight gold. This year’s 25-member contingent consists of 13 men and 12 women pugilists.
–IANS