Indian boxers assured of 12 medals in Montenegro tournament

Asian youth gold medallists Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg) and Vinka (60kg) advanced to the semifinals of the 30th Adriatic Pearl tournament in Budva, Montenegro.

Manipur's Chanu, who trains at MC Mary Kom's academy, did not put a foot wrong and dominated her opponent Georgieva Blagovesta of Bulgaria from the word go.

Asian youth gold medallists Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg) and Vinka (60kg) advanced to the semifinals of the 30th Adriatic Pearl tournament in Budva, Montenegro, assuring themselves of at least a bronze medal each with dominating first-round wins.

Manipur's Chanu, who trains at MC Mary Kom's academy, did not put a foot wrong and dominated her opponent Georgieva Blagovesta of Bulgaria from the word go and as a result, the referee had to stop the contest in the first round itself.

She will face Uzbekistan's Feruza Kazakova in the semifinals.

READ: Ankit Narwal breezes into the quarterfinals in Montenegro

Vinka, who was up against Uzbekistan's Sevara Ashurova in a quarterfinal bout, produced a flawless display of her attacking prowess. The young boxer will face Finland's Suvi Tujula in the semifinals.

Asia's best woman junior boxer for 2018, Arundhati Choudhary (69kg) also started her campaign impressively as she blanked Finland's Evelina Taimi 5-0 and ensured a bronze medal for herself.

However, it was a tough outing for the Indian men as Arambam Naoba Singh (52kg), Sumit (69kg) and Vishal Gupta (91kg) lost their respective quarterfinal bouts, held on Thursday. Jugnoo (91+kg), though, advanced to the semifinals, courtesy a walkover.

Apart from Chanu (51kg), Vinka (60kg) and Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), Neha (54kg) and Sanamacha Chanu Thokchom (75kg) are the other women boxers in contention to reach the finals.

Alfiya Pathan (81+kg) will face Moldova's Daria Kozorev for the gold medal.

Preeti (57kg) and Lucky Rana (64kg) are also in the semifinals while Geetika (48kg) and Raj Sahiba (75kg) will play the finals in their respective category.

Among the men, Priyanshu Dabas (49kg) and Jugnoo (91+kg) have secured at least a bronze each and will be seen in action in the last-four stage.