Indian pugilists put up their best ever performance at the World Cadet Boxing Championships, clinching two gold and a silver medal in the sixth edition of the event in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday.
Vikas Yadav (48kg) and Vipin Kumar (50kg) bagged the gold, while Umesh Yadav (46kg) settled for the silver as India ended its brilliant campaign at the Baku Sports Hall.
Umesh started the proceedings on Saturday but faltered at the final hurdle where he was outscored by local favourite Elvin Isayev. The Indian trailed 6-21 before referee stopped the contest in the second round.
However, Vikas and Vipin soon brought back the cheers by claiming the top honours in their respective categories.
In the 48kg final, Vikas, won a closely contested bout against Romanian Ciprian Apodaresei to clinch the gold.
The former sub-junior national champion opened a 9-2 lead in the first round before Apodaresei fought back to narrow it to 12-9 in the second round.
The decider, however, belonged to Vikas as he came through 20-14 after four out of the five judges ruled in favour of the Indian.
The judge from Kazakhstan declared the bout 24-19 in favour of Apodaresei but it did not affect the overall result as Vikas emerged world champion.
Later, in the 50kg final, Vipin was in control from the very start against Englishman Gamal Yafai.
The Indian took a narrow 6-3 lead in the opening round before dominating the next two to prevail 17-6 and round off a brilliant tournament for India. Vipin is also a former sub-junior national champion.
India, which competed in only five categories, had won just four medals -- two gold, a silver and a bronze -- in the previous editions of the event.
The elite AIBA-sanctioned championship for 15 and 16-year-olds figured 220 boxers from 40 countries.
India, along with Cuba, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Russia, had the highest number of finalists in the 13-category tournament after hosts Azerbaijan, who had four.
