Nine Indians punched their way into the finals of their respective categories in the Golden Glove of Vojvodina, an international boxing tournament in Kikinda, Serbia.
Youth World Championships bronze winner Lalitha Prasad (49kg), 2012 Aglorav Cup silver medallist A Silambarasan (52kg), Neeraj Parashar (64kg) and Manish Solanki (69kg) were among four boys and five girls who power through to the title round of the 31st edition of the tournament last night.
17-year-old Prasad, who bagged the light flyweight title at the 2012 Tammer International tournament in Finland, gave a brilliant account of his boxing skills against Patrik Horvath of Hungary in what was a completely a one- sided affair.
The Hungarian was no match against the express pace of Prasad's punches. The Indian outpointed Patrik in a unanimous decision from the judges. He now faces Russian Perminov Ilia in the final.
Silambarasan got some stiff opposition from Mihaylov Dushko of Bulgaria. In the end though, the 17-year-old Indian emerged victorious on a spit decision to advance to the final round, where he will take on Scottish boxer Stephen Boyle.
Reigning national champion Neeraj Parashar defeated local boxer Mitrovic Slobodan with a spirited performance. His hard hitting three-punch combination proved too difficult for the Serbian to handle and the Indian won on a unanimous decision.
In the final, 17-year-old Prashar will lock horns with Samuel Ball also from Scotland. Manish Solanki blanked Jakub Korbel of the Czech Republic to make his way in to the finals. He now takes on Stanojevic Lazar from Serbia.
