India celebrates double boxing gold at Dakar Youth Olympics

DAKAR, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- India celebrated a double triumph as boxing awarded 10 gold medals at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Thursday, with Gunjan Gunjan and Ambekar Meetei Lairenlakpam winning the women's 48kg and men's 50kg titles respectively.

Gunjan dominated Algeria's Bouthaina Bensalah 5-0 in the final, while Lairenlakpam edged Ireland's Kristian Jubani 3-2 in a closely contested gold medal bout.

The two victories marked a significant achievement for Indian boxing. Before Dakar 2026, India had won only two boxing medals at the Youth Olympic Games, both at Singapore 2010. The latest double gold therefore doubled the country's previous medal tally in the sport.

Venezuela's Grenyelis Garcia secured a convincing 5-0 victory over Azerbaijan's Gular Huseynova to claim the women's 51kg title, while Georgia's Emil Ismailov defeated Australia's Marley Dodd by the same score in the men's 55kg final.

Puerto Rico celebrated its first medal of the Dakar Games when Jesfred Joel Torres Santiago claimed the men's 60kg gold, with the referee stopping his final against Thailand's Siwa Chainarong.

Britain's Michael Maughan took the men's 70kg title, while Japan's Kenshin Sakuno won the men's 65kg crown.

In the remaining women's finals, Uzbekistan secured two titles through Sabrina Chakomanova in the 54kg category and Rushanabonu Isoeva in the 60kg division. Brazil's Sara Campos triumphed in the 57kg final, beating Kazakhstan's Aknur Tursyngali to take gold.

The 10 weight categories also produced a diverse spread of podium finishes, with athletes from 20 countries and regions earning medals.

In the men's events, Colombia's Izzon Jeffrey Galea Arevalo and Mexico's Alan Jesus Ocampo Cano shared bronze in the 50kg category. Canada's Lisandro Garcia Rebelo and Sweden's Zaheer Changazi took bronze in the 55kg division, while China's Zhang Zhengkun and Türkiye's Muhammet Ali Arli finished third in the 60kg event.

Armenia's Suren Katvalyan and Spain's Pablo Souto Macias claimed bronze in the 65kg category, with the United Arab Emirates' Mohamed Moaaz and Mexico's Jorge Luis Nieblas Gutierrez completing the podium in the 70kg division.

In the women's competition, Britain's Lily Bassett and Italy's Michela Guglielmon shared bronze in the 48kg category. Algeria's Cerine Kessal and Canada's Mehreen Khakh took third place in the 51kg division, while Kazakhstan's Maral Tolepbergen and Japan's Yura Kanemaru earned bronze in the 54kg event.

Hungary's Zsofia Csenge Kiss and Ukraine's Yevanhelina Petruk finished third in the 57kg category. Egypt's Menatalla Ibrahim and Japan's Ayano Mochii completed the podium in the 60kg division.