To the delight of everyone, young Indian men and women boxers exhibited their scintillating performances in the finals of the Golden Glove of Vojvodina which is an international youth boxing tournament at Kikinda in Serbia.
Notably, A. Silambarasan (52kg) & Manish Solanki (69kg) in the men's division while Rajesh Kumari (48kg) & Chanda Udanshive (51kg) in the women's title captured the Golden Glove title in their respective weight category on Sunday.
A 2012 Aglorav cup silver medalist Silambarasan continued his apex form in the tournament as he sneaked past Scotsman Stephen Boyle in the flyweight division.
It was observed that both the boxers had a very similar style of boxing and commenced with an electric pace with neither set to back down. In fact, action continued in a similar fashion in the 2nd and the 3rd round with not much separating the duo. At the end, the persistent attacking of the Indian paid off as he was proclaimed the winner. The two time silver medal winner at the Junior Nationals won the gold medal on a unanimous decision. Precisely, his placid punching and impressive style aided him to bag the "Best Fighter of the Tournament" Trophy.
It cannot be ignored that welter-weight boxer Solanki exhibited great class too as he hammered local boxer Stanojevic Lazar. Concisely, his technical superiority along with agile footwork brought the difference between the pair. The 2012 Junior National bronze medalist continued to claim his first international medal with a win on a unanimous decision.
Remarkably, the youth World Championships bronze medal winner Prasad (49kg) and reigning national champion Neeraj Parashar (64kg) won a silver medal following losing the title bout. While fighting against Russian Perminov Ilia, the 17-year-old posted a robust show with his counter attacks and piercing jabs. But the Russian proved to be too strong for Prasad. Dismally, he lost on a split decision.
Parashar too emerged short against Sam Ball from Scotland. On the other hand, the Scottish boxers set up an early advantage with his superior tactics in the first 2 rounds. Neeraj tried hard to get back in the game in the last three minutes, but Ball was up to the challenge. At last, the Indian lost the opportunity for the gold based on split decision.
In the women’s title, 17-year-old Kumari (48kg) went on with her purple patch as she continued to upstage Poptoleva Valentina of Bulgaria in an enchanting contest and win the light fly weight title. In fact, the young dynamo impressed everyone with her maturity and swift reflexes, for which she was also conferred with the "Best Technical Boxer" award of the event.
In another game, Udanshive (51kg) ousted boxer Buyuklieva Marina of Bulgaria in a fine fashion to win the gold medal in the fly weight category. Diksha (91kg), Marthamma Sattivada (64kg) and Pema Chotan (+91kg) skipped on the Golden Glove title after descending in the final hurdle. The three girls won silver medal in the event. Sattivada lost against Jelic Jelena of Serbia in a hard fought competition. Rookie boxers Diksha and Chotan headed against Kazakh boxers Rylina Anastasia and Sadykova Umida respectively.
Overall, India won nine medals.
