Northeast's women boxers shine, bag 2 golds at 30th Adriatic Pearl Tournament

Extending their glorious run at the 30th Adriatic Pearl Tournament, Northeast India’s Babyrojisana Chanu and T Sanamacha Chanu baggged gold medals for India on the final day of the event in Budva, Montenegro, to conclude their highly successful outing while securing No.1 position in the medals tally.

Indian women boxers, thereby, end their campaign on the top spot with five gold medals at the tournament.

Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg) and Arundhati Choudhary (69kg) clinched gold medals and Lucky Rana secured silver as Indian women emerged as the top team with 10 medals (five gold, three silver, and two bronze). Uzbekistan (2 gold) and Czech Republic (1 gold) ended at second and third positions, respectively.

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Three-time Khelo India gold medallist Arundhati once again showed her supremacy as the Rajasthan pugilist pulled off a dominating 5-0 victory against Ukraine’s Maryana Stoiko. However, Manipur girl Chanu, who trains at MC Mary Kom’s academy, had to work hard against Asian junior champion Sabina Bobokulova of Uzbekistan before outshining the opponent in a close fight with a 3-2 split verdict to win the final bout as well as the gold medal. Meanwhile in the 64kg, Lucky suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Finnish boxer Lia Pukkila to claim the silver medal.

Alfiya Pathan (+81kg), Vinka (60kg), and T Sanamacha Chanu (75kg) are the other Indian women boxers who secured gold medals in their respective categories earlier in this tournament. For her magnificent show, Vinka received the Best Women Boxer of the Tournament award. With two medals in the men’s category, the 19-member Indian team concluded their campaign with an overall second position (12 medals). Uzbekistan and Ukraine claimed first and third position respectively in the overall standing.

The Adriatic Pearl Tournament provided an ideal opportunity for the Indians as they participated in a tournament for the first time since the lockdown. With AIBA Youth World Boxing Championship scheduled in Poland from April 10-24, impressive performances here will help young Indian pugilists the required boost and confidence going forward.