Vishwanath, Anand reach finals of Asian Youth & Junior Boxing Championships

Vishwanath Suresh (48kg) and Anand Yadav (54kg) produced gritty performances to enter the finals of the Asian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan on Friday. Securing victories in almost similar fashion against respective Uzbek opponents, Vishwanath and Anand triumphed in intensely-fought bouts. Vishwanath confirmed his second successive final appearance at the prestigious continental tournament after beating Miralijon Mavlonov by a split 4-1 decision.

Anand gave his all to secure a tough 3-2 win over Abduvali Buriboev. The last edition's silver-medallist Vishwanath will look to change the colour of his medal when he takes on Kyrgyz boxer Ergeshov Bekzat in the final while Anand will fight against Eljay Pamisa of Philippines. However, Raman ended his campaign with a bronze medal following a 0-5 loss to Uzbekistan's Khujanazar Nortojiev in the 51kg semi-final.

Later in the evening, three more Indian youth boxers -- Vanshaj (63.5kg), Deepak (75kg), Aman Singh Bisht (+92kg) -- will compete in their respective semi-finals. Indian boxers have secured 18 medals in the youth section, 12 in women and six in men's categories. Among women, seven have sealed finals berths at the tournament.

In the junior boys' section, Yashwardhan Singh (60kg) and Rishabh Singh Shikharwar (80kg) registered contrasting wins in the semi-finals late on Thursday night. Five other boxers -- Jayant Dagar (54kg), Chetan (57kg), Jackson Singh Laishram (70kg), Dev Pratap Singh (75kg), and Gaurav Mhaske (+80kg) -- exited with bronze medals after losses in the last-four stage. Yashwardhan outperformed Kazakhstan's Alexey Khavantsev 5-0 while Rishabh secured a close 4-1 win against Choibekov Azim of Kyrgyzstan.