Guwahati: There is not a street in Guwahati which is not adorned with banners reminding the fans that a global event will be held in their city. Mary Kom, the brand ambassador of the AIBA 2017 AIBA Youth Women’s World Boxing championship, is suddenly in every nook and corner of the North East state. And why not? The five-time World Champion came back from a lengthy break to blitz through to her fifth Asian title earlier this month.
The 34-year-old, in a conversation with The Field, said that she expected the Indian contingent to be among the medals after watching them train a few days ago. What’s more? India received a major boost after the draws were announced as Neha Yadav (+81 kg) and Anupama (81 kg) are already guaranteed a medal without throwing a single punch after progressing through to the semi-finals after receiving byes.
India’s first gold at the event, which came from Sarjubala Devi in 2011, was quite the bolt from the blue. So was Nikhat Zareen’s silver in 2013. Even in this 10-member team, India have quite a few prospects, who have quietly gathered momentum over the last few months.
India’s Italian coach Raffaele Bergamsco also sounded optimistic of his team’s prospects and singled out the determination of his wards as one of the reasons why they would go the distance.
Niharika Gonella (75 kg) and Sakshi (54 kg) have already made waves in the youth circuit and won silver and gold medals in the junior Worlds two years ago. Gonella and Sakshi also impressed in the recent exposure tours during the build-up to the mega event.
Ankushita Boro (64 kg) will have the rare honour of fighting in her home state. Her recent form also puts her as a prospective medal candidate but will have her task cut out if she runs into Netherlands’ highly-rated Chelsey Heijnen in the quarter-finals.
Boro claimed silver medals at the Balkan Youth International Boxing Championship and the prestigious International Ahmet Comert Boxing Tournament. Jyoti (51 kg) too, landed silverware recently but has the ominous task of getting the better of some stalwarts in her weight category in the form of England’s Chloe Watson, and easily one of the finest young boxers around in USA’s Heaven Garcia.
But optimism must be treated with a dash of cautiousness despite India regularly being among the medals in the recent times at world events, across genders. Despite a lot of promise in the Indian ranks, they face stiff competition in the form of traditional favourites: Kazakhstan, defending champions Russia, China and USA.