CHENNAI: Taking part in their second fight in the ongoing Asian Junior and Youth Championships in Dubai, Ashish and Anshul posted eye-catching wins to book the last four berths and assure a medal for India. Ashish (54kg), with a southpaw stance, was quick off the blocks and had his opponent on the ropes within 20 seconds.
With quick feet and hands, he threw a barrage of punches to dominate the proceedings early on. Jafar hit some counter-punches but that did not seem to slow down the Indian who seemed intent on pocketing the opening round. And he managed to do just that with all the ringside judges voting in favour of him.
The start of the second round was similar to the first with both the boxers going after each other, trading some heavy blows. Ashish managed to land some heavy punches with his left against his opponent, who had a marginal height advantage. Ashish also showed some good game sense by defending, with his guard up, ensuring that he held on to his advantage.
That strategy worked as he went on to pocket the second round as well. The tale was no different in the final round, with Ashish managing it well. With this victory, Ashish marched into the semifinals and was assured of at least a bronze medal.
Earlier, Krish Pal (46kg) suffered a defeat in the quarterfinals. He was no competition for Uzbekistan’s Yakhshiboev Ba. The Uzbek boxer was so dominant that the referee was forced to stop the contest. Anshul (57kg) was mighty impressive, winning his fight in just over one minute. Up against Mansoor Khaled Almahri, the Indian boxer was too superior, landing some telling blows. Mansoor was subjected to a standing count after just 50 seconds. Three punches after the bout resumed, the referee had seen enough. Later, Preet Malik (63kg) suffered a narrow defeat against Esembaev Eldar.