Gold rush for India at Serbian youth boxing tournament

Indian boxers ruled the ring at the 36th Golden Glove of Vojvodina youth tournament, ending with a whopping seven gold medals to claim the overall top spot in the event in Subotica, Serbia. 

Four men and three women finished with gold medals at the tournament, which featured 17 countries. India claimed the numero uno position with 17 medals, including six silver and four bronze. Russia fetched 11 medals (3 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze), but ended up third behind Kazakhstan, who had a better gold medal count (5) in their overall haul of seven medals. 

The gold medal winners for India were Aman (+91kg), Akash Kumar (56kg), S barun Singh (49kg), Vijaydeep (69kg), Nitu (48kg), Divya Pawar (54kg), and Lalita (69kg). Aman, who got a direct entry into the final owing to the presence of just two boxers in his draw, defeated his lone challenger in Hungarian Laszlo Felfoldi 5-0 for the top honours.

Barun fetched a split 4-1 triumph over crowd favourite Rade Joksimovic. Akash had to toil harder for his 3-2 win over Argentine Jeheil Mirco Cuello. Vijaydeep too endured a tough contest before prevailing 3-2 over Kazakhstan's Azat Assanov. In the women's draw, Nitu sailed past Scotland's Billie Denholm 5-0. Divya also clinched a 5-0 triumph over Serbian Dajana Grumusa. Lalita, on the other hand, won 4-1 against Russia's Angelina Kabakova. 

Those who ended with silver medals included reigning youth world champion Jyoti Gulia (51kg), who was outwitted by Italian Martina Pianna in a close 2-3 result. Manisha (64kg) also went down by a similar margin to Russia's Lanna Maliuganova. Neha Yadav (+81kg), a direct entrant into the final, was beaten 0-5 by Kazakhstan's Dina Islambekova. 

In the men's competition, Ankit lost 1-4 to Scotland's Reese Lynch, while Akash (64kg) went down 2-3 to Thailand's Bannaphon Pannon. Nitin Kumar (75kg) also lost a close one against Thailand's Weerapon Jongjoho. Settling for bronze medals were Saskhi (51kg), Sakshi Gaidhani (81kg), Bhavesh Kittamani (52kg) and Anamika (51kg) after losing their respective semifinal bouts.