By IANS,
New Delhi : A sixteen-member Indian team left for Turkey to participate in the 1st AIBA Women’s Youth and Junior World Championships in Antalya starting Thursday.
The event will feature 264 boxers from 45 nations. A total of 113 athletes from 28 countries will battle for the world title in the Junior Championships, while 151 boxers from 17 nations will be participating at the Youth Championships.
S. Sarjubala Devi, a gold medallist at the 2010 Youth Women National Boxing Championships, will lead the Indian challenge at the Youth World Championships along with Minu Basumatary, a silver medallist at the 2010 Senior Women National Boxing Championships.
Lalenkawli and Neeraj Bala, who was awarded the best boxer trophy at the Indian Junior National Championships, will spearhead the Indian campaign in the junior championships.
In addition to the host nation Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan are competing with full 13-member teams at the Junior World Championships, while Ukraine with eleven, India eight and Ireland seven athletes.
In the youth tournament Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan will be fielding a full team whereas India and Poland have send eight boxers. Germany and Romania will be competing with seven athletes while Hungary, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ireland with six youth competitors.
Top boxing nations like China and England will be fighting for medals only in the youth tournament. The event will also see some nations which are newcomers to women’s boxing such as Afghanistan, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina etc.
India’s chief coach of the youth team, D. Chandralal, is confident of a good showing.
“Our training has been really good; we have worked very hard to perfect our technique and will perform very well. I am hopeful of at least five medals, of which two should be gold,” he said.
“I.V. Rao, coach-in-charge of the junior women is hoping for a favourable draw.
“With the talent that we have and the efforts that we have put in, I am positive of a good result, but a lot depends on the draw,” he said.
The event will also serve as the testing ground for the new AIBA scoring system which will make its official debut at Turkey.