Ravina strikes gold as India end campaign with 11 medals

NEW DELHI: Reigning Asian Youth Champion Ravina showcased splendid tenacity to emerge victorious in her finals bout and added another gold to India's total medal tally of 11 at the IBA Youth Men's and Women's World Boxing Championships 2022 in La Nucia, Spain.

Ravina (63kg) was up against Megan deCler of the Netherlands in her finals bout.

In spite of not getting off to the best of starts, the Indian pugilist utilized her technical ability and quick movement to mount an impressive comeback against her Dutch opponent.

The fiercely contested bout finished in favour of the 2022 Asian Youth gold medalist who won 4-3 by split decision after the bout was reviewed.

In the other final, Kirti (81+kg) went down fighting against the 2022 European Youth champion Cliona Elizabeth D'Arcy of Ireland, and secured silver after suffering a 0-5 defeat.

India was a dominant force at the event as the 25-member contingent bagged a total of 11 medals which include four gold, three silver, and four bronze medals.

Overall, 17 Indians had qualified for the quarter-finals of the tournament which was more than any other country at the 2022 edition of the tournament.

The women pugilists' total tally of eight medals was the highest among all countries at this year's edition of the championships followed by Kazakhstan (5) and Uzbekistan (4). Ravina (63kg), Devika Ghorpade (52kg) clinched the gold, Kirti (+81kg), Bhawna Sharma (48kg) won silver while Muskan (75kg), Lashu Yadav (70kg), Kunjarani Devi Thongam (60kg) and Tamanna (50kg) claimed the bronze medal.

In the men's category, Youth Asian champs Vanshaj (63.5kg) and Vishwanath Suresh (48kg) grabbed gold while Ashish (54kg) attained silver. This year's championships in La Nucia witnessed the participation of close to 600 boxers from 73 countries.