Nagpur: The 2019 Asian Youth champion Vinka and Poonam kicked off their campaign on a winning note to give India a perfect start at the AIBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Championships in Kielce, Poland.
Playing in the women’s 60-kg category, Vinka, who bagged gold medal in the recently-concluded Adriatic Pearl tournament, registered a 3-2 victory against her Russian opponent Panteleeva Daria while Poonam produced a flawless performance to outclass Columbia’s Arboleda Valeria 5-0 in the women’s 57-kg opening round bout.
With the victories on the opening day of the tourney, Vinka and Poonam have now advanced into the pre-quarterfinals of their respective categories where they will take on Tara Bohatjuk of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary’s Beata Varga respectively on Thursday.
The second day of the prestigious meet will see three Indians in action as the Asian Youth Championships silver medallist Ankit Narwal set to begin the country’s campaign in the men’s category as he will be up against Slovakia’s Miroslav Herceg in the 64-kg category opening round bout.
Vikas (52-kg) and Vishal Gupta (91-kg) will fight against Bulgarian pugilists Yasen Radev and Georgi Stoev respectively in their opening round matches.
Nagpur’s teenage boxer Alfiya Pathan will also be seen in action later in the tournament.
The Youth World Boxing Championships was inaugurated by AIBA president Umar Kremlyov. The Boxing Federation of India has sent a strong 20-member Indian contingent to participate at the on-going event which is set to witness a highly competitive action in the presence of 414 boxers from 52 countries.
