Four Indian boxers in fray on Friday

Four Indian boxers will step into the ring on Friday, as the curtain goes up on the semifinals of the AIBA Women's Youth World Boxing Championships here.

Ten bouts in the fly, feather, welter, middle and heavy categories are on the card on the opening day of this epochal stage, with only Russia matching the impressive number that India have managed to send into the last four stage.

Kazakhstan will see two of their own boxers fighting for places in the final while China, Mongolia, Thailand, Taipei, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Turkey, England and Vietnam will have one each.

Fortunately, for both, India and Russia, neither of their boxers will run into each other on Friday.

Jyoti will kick off India's challenge in the fly-weight category, taking on Kazakhstan's Abdraimova Zhansaya.

Jyoti will have to fight a lot smarter to dismantle Abdraimova, who is strong, quick, clever and aggressive. A solid guard, keeping her jabbing arm busy and away from her body while mixing it with attacks in short bursts, should do the trick.

Next in line will be Shashi Chopra, who comes up against Mongolian Monghor Namuun, another tough customer who is not just aggressive, but quick and packs a good punch too.

Knowing Shashi, she will be up to the task though. She has all the trappings of a quality boxer. All she will need to do is stay sharp, maintain a solid guard and look for clean hitting, combining it with hooks and uppercuts when fighting from close quarters.

Next on the cards will be one of India's most talented and skillful boxer Ankushita Boro. She will take on Thailand's Saksri Thanchanok in the light-welter category.

Ankushita should come through, though, as she is on a roll and in good form too. She is also clinically and technically very sound. All she needs to do is stick to the coach's plan and ensure a guard as the Thai packs a solid punch.

India's fourth boxer on view, Neha Yadav will have her hands full against Islambekova Dina. The hard-hitting Kazakhstan girl is strong and skillful, light on her feet and comes up with a good burst of punches. Neha will have to box smart, fast and furious when in close quarters and maintain a compact guard.

When asked about the medal prospects of the Indian team, Rafael Bergamasco, BFI's High Performance Director said: "I never put a count on medals because I believe in good performances. Medals will come if you box well. I had aimed for seven medals and I'm very happy that we have achieved that. I believe we could have won a couple more though.

"We have gone through the videos of all our opponents and have our strategy in place. I will give the coaches individual methodology for the boxers and ask them to work on it. No hard training today," he added.

--IANS

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