India's most successful campaign in the World youth women boxing championship became even sweeter as all of its five boxers in the finals bagged gold medals at the N.C. Bordoloi Indoor Stadium here on Sunday.
Backed by a rapturous house, Haryana quartet of Nitu (48kg), Jyoti Gulia (51kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (54kg) and Shashi Chopra (57kg) and Assam girl Ankushita Boro (64kg) emerged champions.
Before this, India had gathered a total of two gold medals through Sarjubala Devi (48kg) and Minu Basumatary (64kg) in the inaugural edition in Antalya, Turkey, in 2011.
India's success was unprecedented as it secured five gold and two bronze to take the top spot.
Nitu started off the gold rush by taming Kazakhstan's Zhazira Urakbayeva 5-0. Exhibiting fine ring craft, Nitu mixed her combinations with left shots to seize initiative. She launched effective counter-attacks in the final two rounds to register victory.
Jyoti executed her plan well to beat Ekaterina Molchanova 5-0. The pint-sized Indian boxed from a safe distance against the taller hard-hitting Russian and relied on her excellent assortment of punches to gain ground. She also qualified for next year's Youth Olympics.
World junior champion Sakshi earned another global crown by getting past Ivy-Jane Smith 3-2. Sakshi's fluid footwork and left-right attack held her in good stead against the English counter-puncher.
Presenting a tight guard and well-directed jabs, Ivy-Jane gave Sakshi a tough time before settling for the silver.
Shashi managed a 4-1 win over Vietnamese Hong Do. Shashi missed her fluent game as she became watchful, but stuck to her trademark 'distance punching' against the compact Vietnamese, who delivered some solid blows.
In an entertaining slugfest, Ankushita defeated the powerful Russian Ekaterina Dynnik 4-1 to the delight of local supporters. Ankushita was adjudged the 'best boxer' of the event.
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