JOIN USVikas strikes gold; silver for Shiva
Vikas beat off stiff competition from Lithuania’s Evaldas Petrauskas to triumph 4-3 and win his second gold in two months. The Haryana boxer had clinched top honours in the Asian Youth Championships in Iran last month.
Shiva, however, had to be content with a second-place finish after being out-punched 1-14 by Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez Carrazan.
“Vikas’ bout was very close because his opponent kept up his guard and was trying to connect with wild hooks,” coach G Manoharan said.
“I just told him to hit and move. The trick was to keep a distance from the guy. Vikas stuck to that and managed to pull it off in the end but it was very tense,” he said.
“Shiva, on the other hand, tried very hard but that Cuban guy was too good. Maybe facing a Cuban played on Shiva’s mind. But overall, he has performed exceptionally well in the tournament,” he added.
Shiva was the first to take the ring on Monday and was immediately on the back foot as Carrazan raced to a 4-0 lead.
The second round followed a similar script except that Shiva managed to get on the score-sheet with a lone point but with a massive 8-1 lead in hand, Carrazan had the bout under control. The Indian couldn’t do much in the final round as well as his Cuban rival added six more points.
But Vikas ensured that India fetched at least one gold from the tournament. In a see-saw battle, Vikas and Evaldas were tied 1-1 in the opening three minutes. Vikas took the slight edge in the second round by notching up a couple of points that left the overall score at 3-2.
The third round ended 1-1 but that was enough for the Indian to score a victory by the smallest of margins.
The two boxers have also qualified for the Youth Olympics to be held in August-September in Singapore.
India had won a gold medal at the previous edition of the World Youth Championships in 2008 through Thokchom Nanao Singh, who has gone on to make a name for himself at the senior level as well by winning a silver at the Asian Championships last year.