Vishwanath, Anand reach Asian Youth C’ships finals

Amman (Jordan), March 11 (Agency) Indian youth boxers Vishwanath Suresh and Anand Yadav on Friday produced gritty performances to make their way into the finals of the Asian Youth and Junior Championships. Vishwanath (48kg) confirmed his second successive final appearance at the prestigious continental tournament after beating Miralijon Mavlonov by a split 4-1 decision. In the thrilling bantamweight semifinals, Anand (54kg) gave his all to secure a tough 3-2 win over Abduvali Buriboev. The last edition’s silver medallist Vishwanath will look to change the color of his medal when he takes on Kyrgyz boxer Ergeshov Bekzat in the final while Anand will fight against Eljay Pamisa of Philippines.

Meanwhile, Raman ended his campaign with a bronze medal following a 0-5 loss to Uzbekistan’s Khujanazar Nortojiev in the 51kg semifinal. In the junior boys’ section, Yashwardhan Singh and Rishabh Singh Shikharwar registered contrasting wins in the semifinals on Thursday. Five other boxers, Jayant Dagar (54kg), Chetan (57kg), Jackson Singh Laishram (70kg), Dev Pratap Singh (75kg), Gaurav Mhaske (+80kg), exited with bronze medals. Yashwardhan (60kg) outperformed Kazakhstan’s Alexey Khavantsev 5-0. Rishabh (80kg) secured a close 4-1 win against Choibekov Azim of Kyrgyzstan. The tournament has been witnessing a strong competition in presence of 352 boxers from 21 countries including India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The finals will be played on March 13 and 14.