“This has been an amazing effort"
India’s female boxers made history at the 2021 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships as they won seven gold medals on April 22, 2021.
The games in Kielce, Poland, saw the women notch up top finishes after dominant victories.
The gold medallists were Gitika (48kg), Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), Poonam (57kg), Vinka (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), Thokchom Sanamachu Chanu (75kg) and Alfiya Pathan (+81kg).
Gitika secured a dominant victory over Poland’s Natalia Kuczewska while Babyrojisana defeated Valeriia Linkova of Russia after a close opening round.
Gitika opened India’s proceedings as she outstruck her opponent while maintaining seamless footwork and balance.
On the other hand, Kuczewska could not cope with Gitika’s pace and aggression.
Gitika maintained constant pressure through all three rounds and won a unanimous decision.
Poonam and Vinka later added to the medal haul.
Poonam clinched a dominant decision over France’s Sthelyne Grosy.
Meanwhile, Vinka won by TKO against Kazakhstan’s Zhuldyz Shayakhmetova after the referee was forced to stop the bout in the final round.
For Arundhati, she clinched the win over local favourite Barbara Marcinkowska with a dominant decision.
Thokchom had a back-and-forth battle against Kazakhstan’s Dana Diday which ended with the Indian winning a split decision.
Boxing sensation Alfiya won India’s seventh gold medal, easily defeating Moldova’s Daria Kozorez in the final.
The seven gold medals mean that India’s female boxers beat their previous best haul of five medals. That was achieved at the 2017 games.
Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh said:
“This has been an amazing effort from our youth boxers especially when the players had to be confined at home for the most part of the last year and only make do with online training sessions.
“Our coaches and support staff did a stellar job despite the limitations and challenges.
“This achievement is a testament of the talent we have in the upcoming generation of Indian boxing.”
An unprecedented eight Indians made the 2021 finals, seven of them women.
Sachin (56kg) will fight in the final on April 23, 2021.
Following the female dominance, India’s women are top of the overall championship ahead of Russia.
The 10-day event takes place every two years.
At the 2018 games in Hungary, men and women competed together for the first time.
The Youth Championship Games has seen a high standard of competition, with 414 boxers from 52 countries.
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