Four boxers enter U22 Asian Boxing Championships finals

Bangkok, Aug 6 (PTI) Neeraj, Ishan Kataria, Yatri Patel and Priya packed a punch on way to reaching the finals of the U22 Asian Boxing Championships here on Wednesday.

Neeraj relied on his speed and counter-attacking skills to defeat Kyeongho Bang of South Korea 5:0 in the men's 75kg category to book a place in the title showdown, while Ishan Kataria, in men's 90+kg, dominated Chen Chen of China with his big punches as the referee had to stop the contest in the third round.

Yatri Patel in women's 57kg then reached the final by using a combination of left-right punches to dominate Vietnam's Thi Nhung Quand and win by a unanimous 5:0 verdict.

Priya (women's 60kg) also came up with a dominating performance to overpower Uzbekistan's Odinakhon Ismoilova to reach the final.

The U19 and U22 Asian Boxing Championships, which are being held simultaneously, gives India's rising stars a platform to showcase their skills against some of Asia's toughest opponents.

India has fielded 40 boxers — 20 in each age group — in the competition.

Among the other semi-finalists, Rockey Chaudhary's bout against Iran's Sam Estaki was stopped in the second round as he suffered cuts over both his eyebrows.

Harsh (60kg) and Mayur (90kg) took the fight to their respective opponents but could not finish on the right side of the split verdict.

Harsh went down 1:4 against Uzbekistan's Shohruh Abdumalikov while Mayur lost to Shakhzod Polvonov from the same country.

Ankush went down 0:5 to Sanzhar-Ali Begaliyev of Kazakhstan. All the four boxers will bring home a bronze medal each.

Bhawna Sharma went down 1:4 against Robiyakhon Bakhtiyorova of Uzbekistan in the women's 48kg category, while Parthavi Grewal (women's 60kg), Parnjal Yadav (women's 65kg) and Shruti (women's 75kg) also lost their semifinal bouts to settle for bronze medals. PTI AM AM AH AH