Indian boxer Sanjeet beat Olympic silver-medallist Vassiliy Levit in the 91kg final to win gold medal at the Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai on Monday. Earlier, Pooja Rani won the gold medal while defending her title in the 75 kg weight. At the same time, Amit Panghal and Shiva Thapa settle with the silver medal after losing against Mongolia's Baatarsukh Chinzorig and Shakhobidin Zoirov respectively. This was Thapa's fifth successive medal at the event, making him the first Indian male boxer in the tournament history to secure five medals. India has won 15 medals in this championship, which is the highest ever. Earlier in 2019, India had won 13 medals in the Asian Championships held in Bangkok.
The medals won by the Indian contingent include 2 gold, 5 silver and 8 bronze medals. Most of these 10 medals have been won by women boxers. These include 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 6 Bronze Medals. However, six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg), and tournament debutants Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) and Anupama (81+kg) ended with second-place finishes. The men's team won 5 medals, including one gold, two silvers and one bronze medal.
The special thing about this year's tournament is that the prize money of the championship has been increased drastically. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has allocated prize money of US$ 4,00,000 for this championship. The gold medal winners in the men's and women's categories are being awarded USD 10,000, while the silver and bronze medal winners are being awarded USD 5,000 and USD 2,500 respectively.
150 boxers from 17 countries including India, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, the Philippines and Kazakhstan participated in the Asian Boxing Championship being held in Dubai.
