Rising Punches: India’s Young Boxers Shine at Asian U15 & U17 Championships in Tashkent

India’s budding boxing talents delivered an encouraging run of performances at the Asian U15 & U17 Championships 2026 in Tashkent, showing promise across both age groups.

In the U-17 boys’ division, Yadav Yash (50kg) dominated his bout with a clean 5:0 win over Turkmenistan’s Suleyman Ahmedov. Karuna Albertson Kom (60kg) also impressed, securing a solid 4:1 victory against Tajikistan’s Ali Nazarov.

However, not all results went India’s way. Gopal Rameshwar Ganeshe (52kg) fought hard but narrowly lost 2:3 to Tajikistan’s Nazarov Damir in a closely contested bout. Mishra Prashant (57kg) faced a tough challenge from China’s Tangjie Liu and went down 0:5.

The U-15 girls put up a strong show in the quarterfinals. Khushi Rana (49kg) delivered a commanding performance, winning via RSC in the very first round against Vietnam’s Thi Ngoc Truc Nguyen. Hanshika Attri (46kg) followed with an emphatic 5:0 win over Uzbekistan’s Visola Bakhtiyorova. Nitya Pandey (55kg) showed grit but fell short against Kazakhstan’s Aruna Shalman.

Among the U-15 boys, Samir Bohra (43kg) cruised to a convincing 5:0 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Hao-Ting Chang in the preliminary round.

Earlier in the tournament, India’s U-17 girls had already made a strong statement, securing five impressive wins on the opening day. In the boys’ category, Neela Narendra Kumar (46kg) stood out with a first-round RSC victory over Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Alhossah, while Daksh Pawar (48kg) faced a stiff opponent and lost 0–5 to Tajikistan’s Firuzjon Boymatov.

With a blend of dominant victories and tightly fought contests, India’s young boxers are steadily making their mark, highlighting the depth of talent as the competition progresses.

With inputs from IANS