Neeraj nails Gheorghe to progress

Neeraj Parasar (64kg) clinched a superb come-from-behind victory over Romania’s Andrei Ninel Gheorghe to enter the quarterfinals even as the country’s women pugilists bowed out of the World Youth Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Friday.

Neeraj, the reigning national champion rallied to beat Gheorghe 2-1 in the pre-quarterfinal bout to bring some cheers to the Indian camp after three losses in the day.

In a see-saw battle, Neeraj was found wanting in the opening three minutes before getting his act together in the remaining two rounds to emerge triumphant.

However, the other Indians in fray disappointed. In the afternoon session, Sathish Kumar (56kg) started the proceedings for Indian men on a rather disappointing note, losing 0-3 to Cuba’s Javier Diaz Ibanez in the second round.

The Indian women’s challenge came to an end with both Jamuna Boro (60kg) and Manju Bombariya (75kg) losing their respective prequarterfinal bouts.

Boro lost 0-3 to Ukraine’s Anhelina Bondarenko in the pre-quarterfinals. The Indian fought hard in the contest but ultimately proved no match to her rival, who forced a knockdown eight-count in the final round.

Bombariya lost to Turkey’s Sema Caliskan 0-3 after getting an opening-round bye. Bombariya also faced a knockdown eight-count in the final round before eventually losing the bout.

On Saturday, Shyam Kakara (49kg), Sandeep Kumar (60kg) and Manjeet (69kg) would be in action.