Indian women’s magnificent seven at youth worlds augurs well for future

Taking on opponents from powerhouses like Russia, Uzbekistan and European nations in Kielce, Poland, the Indian women didn’t show any stage fright. They kept their opponents at bay with the power of their punches and controlled aggression.

To win seven out of seven finals at the Youth World Boxing Championships in Poland is not only a remarkable achievement for the women’s team but also augurs well for India’s boxing future. Up against boxing powerhouses like Russia, Uzbekistan and European nations in Kielce, Poland, the Indian girls showed no stage fright or nerve and kept their opponents on the rope with their punches and controlled aggression.

Indian women’s team.

Gitika Narwal (48kg) Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), Poonam (57kg), Vinka (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), T Sanamacha Chanu (75kg) and Alfiya Pathan (+81kg) left it all out there on the ring for a golden show. The seven gold medals and three bronze is already India’s best tally at Youth World Championships. Men’s boxer Sachin will fight a final (56kg Bantam) tonight. The women’s team has drawn plenty of eyeballs with their performance, finishing No.1 ahead of Russia (six medals---one gold, two silver and three bronze). In the 2017 edition at Guwahati, Indian women had won five gold.

On Thursday, Gitika gave a perfect start with a dominating 5-0 win against local favourite Natalia Kuczewska in the women’s 48kg final to secure the first gold medal. She had earlier beaten two-time European Champion Italy’s Erika Prisciandaro.

The good work was followed by Asian Youth Champion Babyrojisana who showed good defending skills and attacked with flair in beating European Junior Champion Russian Valeriia Linkova (5-0). Poonam (57kg) defeated Sthelyne Grosy of France by a similar margin in her typically aggressive style.

Vinka (60kg) punched hard against Kazakhstan boxer Zhuldyz Shayakhmetova, forcing the referee to stop the contest in the third round. Rajasthan boxer Arundhati completed a fine 5-0 win against Polish boxer Barbara Marcinkowska. Asian Youth Champion Sanamacha, who trains at boxing great MC Mary Kom’s academy in Imphal, also got the better of Kazakhstan’s Dana Diday 5-0. And Nagpur girl Alfiya completed the rout with a stunning win against European Youth Champion Moldova’s Daria Kozorez 5-0.

The transition to the senior level will start getting tough from here. The challenge will be to build on this performance at the highest level and prepare for the next Olympics. Behind their stellar show is the often unheralded effort put in by coaches, support staff and the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) in nurturing young talent in the last couple of years. That needs to be recognised as well. Keeping the group motivated, especially during the lockdown period last year, and preparing them for this competition was a big task and BFI can pat itself on the back for a job well done.

“This has been an amazing effort from our youth boxers especially when the players had to be confined at home for most part of the last year and only make do with online training sessions. Our coaches and support staff did a stellar job despite the limitations and challenges. This achievement is a testament of the talent we have in the upcoming generation of Indian boxing,” says BFI president Ajay Singh.

The focus is now on the building on this current show.

“No doubt the women's team has given a very good performance. They have the best of facilities at National Boxing Academy, Rohtak and a dedicated team of coaches and support staff and that made the difference. They were very well prepared,” says Venkatesan Devarajan, former international boxer and a national selector, who along with Akhil Kumar, Beijing Olympics quarter-finalist, selected the team.

“A strong youth team is a good starting point. They have shown good strength and endurance and positive frame of mind. The competition at the senior international is of a very high level and they need to polish their technique, skills and ring craft,” he said.

The second line in youth is equally talented and that’s a good sign for the future, he says. “When we picked the team from trials we saw there was not much difference between the No.1 and No.2 boxer. The competition within the team was good. It shows they have good sparring partners and the squad has the backup,” said Devarajan, who competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.