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Youth boxers head for World Championships

A chance to compete in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games up for grabs, a nine-member Indian boxing team leave on Tuesday for the AIBA World Youth Championship in Baku.

New Delhi: A chance to compete in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games up for grabs, a nine-member
Indian boxing team leave on Tuesday for the AIBA World Youth Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan which has been delayed by a couple of days after several competing teams were left grounded due to the volcanic ash over European skies. The nine-member Indian team, which will go via Moscow to avoid the European airspace for the tournament which will start now on April 25, boasts of two Asian youth champions in Vikas Kishan (60kg) and Naveen Kumar (75kg). India`s first ever gold medallist at the prestigious Hyder Aliyev Cup for junior boxers, Shiva Thapa is also part of the team. The youngsters have a tough challenge awaiting them with as many as 555 boxers from 110 countries will be competing in the tournament, which is the only qualifying event for the Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore in August-September. "It`s the biggest tournament of our careers so far and though the size of the draw is intimidating, we are confident of winning medals and making the cut for Youth Olympics," said Shiva. All those who make the semifinals of the event would qualify for the Youth Olympics but given the huge size of the draw, it would be a daunting task to make that grade. Joining hosts Azerbaijan with a full team of eleven boxers are traditional powerhouses Cuba, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the Ukraine, Belarus and Hungary. Others like Uzbekistan, the United States, China, Germany, Iran and Turkmenistan will be taking part with 10 athletes. The challenge may be tough but the Indian team boasts of an accomplished line-up of boxers who have done well internationally. Devendro Singh Laishram (48kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) were silver medallists at last moth`s Asian Youth Championships in Iran. "It would be a difficult tournament no doubt but the boys are prepared and will do well," said coach G Manoharan. The Indian team underwent a two-month camp at the Army Sports Institute in Pune to prepare for the Championship. Thokchom Nanao Singh (48kg), who is an Asian silver medallist at the senior level, was the first Indian to bag a gold in this event when he cliched the top honours in the 2008 edition in Mexico. The Team: Devendro Singh Laishram (48kg), J Bhaskar (51kg), Shiva Thapa (54kg), Manjeet Kumar (57kg), Vikas Kishan (60kg), Harpal Singh (64kg), Kishan Thapa (69kg), Naveen Kumar (75kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg). PTI