Indian pugilists bagged 10 medals including 5 gold at Asian Games Invitational Tournament

Jakarta, February 16: Indian pugilists gave a spectacular performance at the 18th Asian Games Invitational Test Tournament in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Thursday and bagged a total of 10 medals including 5 gold, one silver and 4 bronze medals.

 

Salman Shaikh in the 52 kg category, Manish Kaushik of the 60 kg category and Pavitra of the women's 60 kg category fought their way to gold even after they were guaranteed a bronze without even throwing a punch.

Notably, Pavitra won 5-0 against Nilawan Techasuep of Thailand in 60 Kg category, Shyam Kumar defeated local lad Mario Blasius 4-1, while Salman Shaikh in 52 Kg category defeated his Filipino rival 5-0. Meanwhile, it was the second successive top finish for Manish Kaushik since claiming the national title last year.

However, India's greatest find in the Youth World Championships has been Shakshi who yet again displayed her dominance in the ring but couldn't manage to get past her final opponent and settled for silver. On the other side, Etias Kha in 56 kg category, Ashish Kumar in 75 kg category, Pawan Kumar in the 69kg category and Ritu in 51 kg category had to settle for bronze after losing out in their respective semifinal bouts.

Continuing to shine in the International sports arena, Indian contingent clinched a rich haul of 22 medals, including 13 gold, at the Asian Games invitational tournament that concluded on Wednesday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Interestingly, Indonesia staged competitions in 40 sports in the Asian Games this year with a total of 462 events. Over 11,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations and regions took part in the games. The sports included weightlifting, athletics, 5x5 basketball, volleyball, archery, pencak silat, taekwondo and boxing.