Vikas wins gold, Shiva gets silver in World Youth Boxing

India rounded off its World Youth Boxing Championship campaign with 2 medals in Azerbaijan.

New Delhi: Vikas Krishan (60kg) notched up his second successive international gold, while Shiva Thapa (54kg) settled for a silver as India rounded off its World Youth Boxing Championship campaign with two medals in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Vikas beat off stiff competition from Lithuania`s Evaldas Petrauskas to triumph 4-3 and win his second gold in two months. The Haryana boxer had clinched the top honour in the Asian Youth Championships in Iran last month. Shiva, however, had to be content with a second-place finish on the podium after being out-punched 1-14 by Cuba`s Robeisy Ramirez Carrazan. "Vikas` bout was very close because his opponent kept a guard and was trying to connect wild hooks," coach G Manoharan told reporters. "I just told him to hit and move. The trick was to keep a distance from the guy. Vikas stuck to that and managed to pull it off in the end but it was very tense," he said. "Shiva, on the other hand, tried very hard but that Cuban guy was too good. May be facing a Cuban played on Shiva`s mind. But overall he has performed exceptionally well in the tournament," he added. Shiva was the first to take the ring today and was immediately on the back foot as Carrazan raced to a 4-0 lead.The second round followed a similar script except that Shiva managed to get on the score-sheet with a lone point but with a massive 8-1 lead in had, Carrazan had the bout in control. The Indian couldn`t do much in the final round as well as his Cuban rival added six more points. But Vikas ensured that India fetched at least one gold from the tournament. In a see-saw battle, Vikas and Evaldas were tied 1-1 in the opening three minutes. Vikas took the slight edge in the second round by notching up a couple of points that left the overall score at 3-2.The third round ended 1-1 but that was enough for the Indian to score a victory by the smallest of margins. Apart from medals, the two boxers have also qualified for the Youth Olympics to be held in August-September in Singapore. India had won a gold medal at the previous edition of the World Championships in 2008 through Thokchom Nanao Singh, who has gone on to make a name for himself at the senior level as well by winning a silver at the Asian Championships last year. India had sent a nine-member team for the event this time and eight of them crashed out by the quarterfinal stage. PTI