What’s the story?
19-year-old Ankush Dahiya (60 kg) won a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia on Sunday, defeating Korean Man Choe Chol in the final in a split decision. The young boxer used his long reach and height advantage to land some feisty straight blows, which eventually helped decide the bout.
The Haryana boxer, speaking to TOI after the win said, "It was pretty much my best performance in the tournament. I was lucky to get through to the semifinals but I felt in control in the gold medal bout.
"Fighting against the top boxers in the country in the national camps at SAI Sonepat as well as good performance in the nationals last year gave me confidence that I can perform at this level.”
Anurag Verma, one of the coaches who accompanied the team along with the other coach Lalit Prasad, also spoke out about the win, elaborating, "I have been with Ankush from his young days. Apart from the Asian Youth Championship medal last year, he was also very impressive in the World Youth Championship in Russia. With his long reach and fine technique, he has a very bright future.”
In case you didn’t know...
The tournament in Mongolia was Ankush's second international tournament since his step up from the youth to the elite level late last year. The man from Sonepat had shot into the limelight after reaching the finals of the 2016 Nationals where he lost to the experienced Shiva Thapa.
The heart of the matter
India had sent a second-string squad to the Ulaanbaatar Cup organised in Mongolia this week, but the Indian boxing team was able to win five medals - one gold, one silver and three bronze - from the tournament. Ankush who won his first gold at the senior level with this win was the star for the country.
Devendro Singh (52 kg) was also able to garner a silver medal after losing a close final to Indonesia's Aldoms Suguro via a split decision. Devendro, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist, had been troubled by deteriorating vision issues and as a result had previously fallen down the ranks in Indian boxing.
The Manipuri boxer exhausted his rival by not letting the intensity slip and was denied a clear shot due to Suguro's shell guard. The 25-year-old, did well to connect some body blows but his overall performance did not find favour with the judges who gave the win Suguro, 3-2.
K Shyam Kumar (49 kg), Mohammed Hussamuddin (56 kg) and Priyanka Chaudhary (60 kg), on the other hand, lost their respective semifinal matches to win bronze medals for the country.
King’s Cup gold medallist Shyam Kumar lost his bout against Rogen Ladon of Philippines through a split verdict. Hussamuddin lost to Bat-Ochir Tumurkhuyag of Mongolia while Priyanka lost her match against Korea’s Hye Song Choe
Mary Kom (51kg), who returned to action after a one-year break, was defeated by Korean Chol Mi Bang in the quarterfinal stage of the tournament. Mary Kom will now go back to the light flyweight 48kg category to focus on the Asian Championships in November
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What’s next?
Taking confidence from his amazing performance in this tournament, Ankush will be hoping to replicate this form on the Asian Championships in November and the Commonwealth Games next year.
Authors take
It is great to see a young star doing so well and Ankush will look to build on this gold medal winning performance with more stellar performances in the future for India.
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