Budva, Oct 27:
Indian boxer Aditya has entered the men’s 55kg final at the World Boxing U-19 Championships in Montenegro after defeating Azerbaijan’s Nihat Gasimov by a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the semifinals.
The Asian U-19 silver medallist produced a dominant performance across all three rounds on Sunday night to secure his place in the gold-medal bout. He will face Russia’s Islam Magomedov in the final, giving India an opportunity to add another major achievement to its campaign.
Megha Sheokand has also reached the final in the women’s 80kg category after registering a referee-stopped-contest victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Chynybekova in the semifinals.
India are assured of two medals from the campaign, with two other boxers also having secured bronze medals. Harshika narrowly missed out on a place in the final after losing 3-2 to American boxer Lauryn Elmore in the women’s 65kg semifinal. Prachi Tokas secured bronze in the women’s 80-plus kg category after losing her semifinal bout.
Aditya’s progress is a significant development for Indian youth boxing, with the final providing him an opportunity to convert his strong semifinal performance into a world championship gold medal.