L P Prasad (49kg) clinched the only gold for India at the 33rd International Tammer Youth Boxing Tournament, beating England’s Jack Bateson in the final in Tampere, Finland.
The other Indian in the finals, Dheeraj Singh (52kg) had to settle for a silver medal after losing out to Elie Konki of France. This was 17-year-old Prasad’s first International medal.
Prasad reached the title round after ousting Welsh boxer Ashley Williams in the semifinals. In the summit clash, Bateson, a European Youth Championship quarterfinalist, dominated the early stage of the bout.
After the opening three minutes of play both the boxers ended up with three points apiece.
In the second round, Prasad managed to break the defence of English boxer with his cracking combinations to go 8-7 up.
The Services pugilist then launched an all-out offensive in the decider to take the game away from his opponent to win 14-10. “It was a tough fight but I stuck to my strategy and played my natural game and in the end it paid off pretty well. It was a proud moment for me to hear the national anthem being played at the medal ceremony,” stated Prasad. “I am happy with my performance in the tournament plus winning the gold will be a big motivating factor in the upcoming Youth World Championships,” Pra-sad added.
Unfortunately Dheeraj was not able to replicate his team-mate’s success, but put up good fight in the finals of the flyweight category.
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