Guwahati: Jyoti (51 kg), Ankushita Boro (64 kg) and Shashi Chopra (57 kg) continued their dream run at the boxing women’s youth world championships by reaching the finals. Neha Yadav (81+ kg), though, endured a tough evening, losing by a unanimous decision at the Nabin Chandra Bodoloi indoor stadium.
It was the lion-hearted Jyoti who became the first Indian boxer to reach the summit event, beating Kazakhstan’s Zhansaya Abdraimova by points (4-1) and once again showing the ability to bail herself out of trouble after a below-par second round.
The Indian dominated the first round, opening her guard and attacking her opponent with a flurry of punches from close range, landing solid jabs with her lefts. Jyoti’s unorthodox technique caught her opponent off-guard, which gave her the edge in the first round.
Abdraimova settled into the bout in the second round and used simple 1-2s to catch her opponent of guard. The Kazhaki continued to open her guard but her gamble paid off in the through 1-2-3 routines while Jyoti backpeddled far too many occasions for her own comfort.
What worked for Jyoti in the third and perhaps won her the contest was using punches in short bursts and showing good technique with her sidestep. Her ring coverage was impressive too. “My coach [Rafaelle Bermagasco] told me that I was not going close enough. It was then that I used the centre of the ring to my advantage,” Jyoti told The Field.
Shashi extends her dominance
Chopra’s reach and her straight-punching style and her hooks with the left, which has been a revelation throughout the tournament, was too much to handle for Mongolia’s Namuun Monkhor.
Chopra set the pace with her combinations and continued her dominance in her second, even earning a standing count. Monkhor was slow in opening her guard and was getting rooted in the centre of the ring, which played into Chopra’s hands. The Haryana boxer continued to show her class with her combinations and ring coverage while continuing to jab away clinically to register’s India’s second win of the day.
Boro’s dream run at home continues
There was more cheer for India as local girl Boro, who is, by some distance the fan favourite bulldozed her way to the final of the 64 kg category by unanimous decision. Thailand’s Thanchanok Saksri was was more than a match for the Assamese and the first round witnessed both boxers playing with a lot of caution and maintaining a fair distance away from each other.
Both players adopted similar tactics in the second round, aiming for a flurry of punches to the midrift while carefully protecting their guard. Boro, though, came out trumps in the duels, using her height to relentlessly jab away to glory. Proceedings continued in a similar vein in the third, and earned a standing count. That all but sealed the bout, which Boro won by unanimous decision.
Others
England’s Georgia O’Connor and Russia’s Anastasiia Shamanova (both 75 kg) once again showed why they are so highly-rated after cruising to wins by unanimous decisions. Both boxers, who come with lofty reputations after picking up medals at Europe, showed tremendous ring presence, footwork and brute force.
Shamanova was once again at her punishing best and Poland’s Natalia Marczykowska had no answer to the Russian’s onslaught. It was one-way traffic as the Russian’s presence, footwork and the ability to rapidly switch from defence to attack helped her seal the bout, and is clearly the favourite to win gold in the middleweight category.
O’Connor, who picked up an easy win against India’s Niharika Gonella in the quarter-finals, was once again a class apart as she downed Chinese Taipei’s Ya-Chu Yang. Another Russian, Kristina Tkacheva also booked a place in the finals after registering a comfortable win by unanimous decision.