Eight Indians, seven of them women, storm into final of Youth World Boxing

All 7 women win their semi-final bouts in a brilliant display of youth power in the sport at Kielce, Poland.

They are a fearless and highly motivated bunch causing ripples in the boxing world with their skills and prowess. India’s youth boxers are raining punches at the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Kielce, Poland with eight of them storming into the final on Tuesday.

Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu

The women boxers have been simply unstoppable. They were in the semi-finals in seven of the 10 categories, winning all of them. Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), Poonam (57kg), Gitika Narwal (48kg), Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), Vinka (60kg), T Sanamacha Chanu (75kg) and Alfiya Pathan (+81kg) kept India in hunt for titles. They have been beating boxers from powerhouses like Russia and Uzbekistan. In the final, they will meet opponents from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Poland, France, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey.

Babyrojisanagave—Asian Youth champion—upset Poland’s European Youth Champion Alexas Kubicka in the quarter-finals, displaying controlled aggression and fast combination punches. In the semi-finals against Italy’s Lucia Elen Ayari, she produced quality punches to win 5-0. The Italian even took a count in the third round of the bout. The Indian No.1 will face Russia’s Valeria Linkova in the gold medal round.

Poonam, also an Asian Youth champion, won a tough contest against Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova 5-0. Sanamacha Thokchom Chanu won her bout 4-1 with some clean hitting against Poland’s Daria Parada in the middleweight (75kg) semi-final. Gitika beat Erika Prisciandaro of Italy 5-0. Vinka defeated Czech Republic’s Veronika Gajdova 4-1. Arundhati advanced with a win over Uzbekistan’s Khadichabonu Abdullaeva and Alfiya edged past Oliwia Toborek of Poland 3-2.

Four Indian men were in the semi-finals but only Sachin (56kg) made it to the title contest, beating Italian Michele Baldassi in 56kg. Ankit Narwal (64kg), Vishal Gupta (91kg), and Bishwamitra Chongtham (46-49kg) lost, though they have assured themselves of a medal for reaching the semifinals. In all, India are assured of 11 medals.

This dominant show is a reward for hard work and determination in training during last year’s lockdown months.

Bhaskhar Bhatt, head coach of the national youth women’s team, reveals how the boxers trained from their homes with coaches giving instructions on an online app from Rohtak’s National Boxing Academy. The coaches had been flooded with requests from parents to do something for their children during the lockdown.

From April onwards, the Boxing Federation of India held online classes in the morning with evening sessions reserved for more personalised training with each coach guiding eight boxers. Projectors were used at Rohtak’s NBA to monitor them. Boxers from across India joined the classes. At times, there were close to 400 boxers training from home. They were able to maintain fitness and practice boxing skills for five months, when the national camp finally resumed at NBA.

“Kids were so motivated they found their own methods for weight training and punching bag practice. Some used bamboo sticks and bricks, some empty cylinders, tyres, water bottles, even books stuffed in a school bag for weight training. They even made their punching bags by stuffing clothes in bags. We just encouraged them and they surprised us with their creativity,” says Bhatt.

They trained by placing mobile phones in front with parents helping them.

Babyrojisanagave from Manipur said her father was a constant guide during the lockdown. “My father was a boxer and he taught me my first lessons. During the lockdown, he was there to help me out,” she says.

“There were no weights so I put stones in my bag. I used a bamboo stick to lift it. I worked hard because I wanted to do well at the World Youth Championships.”

Vinka, who hails from Panipat, Haryana, used tyres for weights. Her father, a cab driver, went for a run with his daughter daily at 4am.

“My father was at home and he accompanied me in my morning runs. I was very worried because it is my last year in youth. Had there been no world championships, everyone said it will be difficult to make it to the national team. So I trained hard,” she says.

“I am preparing for the 2024 Olympics,” Vinka adds.

India have qualified nine boxers (five men, four women) for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.