Youth Olympics 2026: Ambekar Meetei wins India’s first-ever boxing gold
FILE PHOTO: India’s Ambekar Meetei (second from left) won the 50kg final via a split verdict against Ireland’s Kristian Jubani. | Photo Credit: Boxing Federation of India
FILE PHOTO: India’s Ambekar Meetei (second from left) won the 50kg final via a split verdict against Ireland’s Kristian Jubani. | Photo Credit: Boxing Federation of India
Lairenlakpam Ambekar Meetei created history by winning India’s first-ever Youth Olympics gold medal in boxing at the ongoing edition in Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday.
Ambekar defeated Ireland’s Kristian Jubani 3-2 in the men’s 50kg final.
Ambekar’s triumph marks a landmark moment for Indian boxing at the Youth Olympics, with Shiva Thapa’s (60kg) silver medal at the 2010 Games being the country’s previous best performance in the sport.
Manipur’s Ambekar, who trains at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala, enjoyed a dominant run to the final, stopping Namibia’s Abraham Kalenga in the first round of their quarterfinal bout before registering a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Colombia’s Izzon Jeffrey Galea Arevalo in the semifinals.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.