Indian boxer Larenlakpam Ambekar Meitei created history in the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics on Thursday. He has become the first Indian player to win a gold medal in boxing in this competition. This Manipur-born boxer achieved this feat by defeating Ireland’s Christian Zubaani 3-2 in the final match of men’s 50 kg weight category. With this he gave India its first gold medal in these games.
The beginning of the final match was very challenging for Meetei, but he made a brilliant comeback and won. In the first round, all five judges gave their verdict in favor of Zubaani, which increased the pressure on the Indian boxer.
However, Meetei made a great comeback in the second round. Three judges gave this round in his favor, due to which he returned to the competition again. After this the Indian boxer further improved his performance in the final round. Four out of five judges ruled in his favor, resulting in a 3-2 win and a historic gold medal.
With this victory, India’s wait to win a gold medal in the Dakar Youth Olympics also ended. Earlier, Indian players had won three silver and five bronze medals in various sports including wrestling and swimming.
Meitei’s journey to reach the final was also quite spectacular. He started his campaign with a strong win against Namibia’s Abraham Kalenga. He was declared the winner by ‘Referee Stops Contest’ decision at 1:57 minutes in the first round.
After this, he maintained his dominance in the quarter-finals also and defeated Fay Cheikh Ibrahima Fall of Senegal by a huge margin of 5-0. The Indian boxer continued his excellent performance in the semi-finals also. He defeated Izon Jeffrey Galea Arevalo of Colombia by a lopsided 5-0 decision to secure his place in the gold medal match.
This achievement of Meetei adds a new chapter in India’s Youth Olympic boxing history. Earlier, in the first Youth Olympics held in Singapore in 2010, Shiv Thapa had won the silver medal in the men’s 54 kg category, while in the same event, Vikas Krishnan had won the bronze medal in the men’s 60 kg category. Now Meetei has gone one step further and achieved the feat of becoming the first Indian boxer to reach the highest position of the podium in the Youth Olympics.
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Source: ndtv.in
