Boxers Jyoti, Shashi, Ankushita cruise into finals

Indian boxers continued their spectacular run in the AIBA Women's Youth World Boxing Championships, with three of them winning their bouts and storming into the finals on Friday.

Jyoti (flyweight), Shashi Chopra (feather) and local star Ankushita Boro (lightwelter) made it seem like a walk in the park as they outclassed their opponents in front of packed stands.

The shadow-boxing drill carried out by India's High Performance director Rafaele Bergamasco the night before during the rest day seemed to have worked its magic.

Jyoti cleverly fought her opponent Zhansaya Abdraimova from a distance. That foxed the Kazakhstan girl who has a penchant for aggression.

The minute she attempted to charge, Jyoti side-stepped her with ease and countered with a left jab followed by a two-punch or three punch combo that gave her the edge.

However, Jyoti did slip up in the second round, slowing down a bit to allow her opponent to claw back.

Jyoti returned in the third, hungry for victory. She stepped on the gas, attacking with greater vigour, mixing her attack with left jabs and short bursts with both fists, including the leapfrog hook to Zhansaya's face.

The Kazakh girl too did her best to counter Jyoti but without much success.

Shashi Chopra turned on the heat in her feather weight bout to end the impressive run of Mongolia's Namuun Monkhor.

The lanky Indian girl peppered her opponent's face and body with such consistency and precision, especially in the second when she unleashed a wicked left-right combo to Namuun's face, to force the referee to give the Mongolian a standing count.

The third round was a rock solid demonstration of straight punching that saw Shashi punish her opponent with such conviction, that the writing on the wall soon became apparent.

Ankushita started slowly against Thailand's Thanchnok Saksri in their light welter category but gained momentum as the clock ticked.

She slowly became aggressive, working on the face and body of her opponent to steal a huge lead.

The third round was completely hers, as Ankushita came up with speed and combination while moving from side to side even as she shuffled her feet, bobbed and weaved to avoid the punches thrown at her.

The vociferous cheering from the packed stands only egged her on and she finished the bout in a flourish, releasing a series of punches to the body and face with such lightning speed that the crowd was in raptures.

India's fourth semi-finalist Neha Yadav ran into a stronger opponent in Kazakhstan's Dina Islambekova in the heavyweight division.

The Kazakh was way above and too polished a boxer for young Neha who bravely fought on but couldn't match her opponent.

--IANS

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