Asian U-22 & Youth Boxing C’ships: India’s Vishvanath, Akash, Preet storm into semis

Astana (Kazakhstan: Indian boxers Vishvanath Suresh, Akash Gorkha and Preet Malik progressed into the men’s U-22 semi-finals with convincing victories at the Asian U-22 & Youth Boxing Championships 2024, here on Tuesday.

Reigning youth world champion Vishvanath (48kg) led the charge for India as he dominated Iran’s Hassani Seyedarsham in what turned out be a one sided-affair as he clinched a comfortable 5-0 win. Senior national champion Akash (60kg) followed the similar suit as he outclassed Ebadi Arman of Iran with an identical 5-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile, Preet (67kg) also didn't take much time before finishing the bout with a Referee Stopping the Contest (RSC) decision in the first round itself against Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Ngoc.

Kunal (75kg), however, bowed out after losing 0-5 against Iran’s Mahshari Mohammad in the quarter-finals.

The U-22 semi-finals will be played on Saturday.

Jugnoo (86kg), Rhythm (+92kg), Tammana (50kg), Preeti (54kg) and Priyanka (60kg) will play their U-22 quarter-finals later on Tuesday. Late on Monday, Rahul Kundu (75kg), Lakshay Rathi (+92kg), and Laxmi (50kg), Tamanna (54kg), Yatri Patel (57kg) and Shrusthi Sathe (63kg) emerged victorious as they enter the semi-finals in the youth category.

On Wednesday, nine youth Indian boxers will compete in their respective quarter-finals bouts: Aryan (51kg), Jatin (57kg), Yashwardhan Singh (63.5kg), Priyanshu (71kg), Sahil (80kg) and Aryan (92kg) in the men’s category whereas Nisha (52kg), Akansha Phalaswal (70kg) and Rudrika (75kg) in the women’s section.

The prestigious tournament has been witnessing high-voltage action with the presence of 390-plus boxers from more than 24 countries, fighting for the medals across 25 weight categories.

The finals for the youth and U-22 category will be played on May 6 and 7 respectively.