Sandeep Singh was the lone Indian to enter the final of the World Junior Boxing Championships, thus assuring himself a silver medal, at least, while three of his compatriots settled for bronze after losing their semi-final bouts in Yerevan, Armenia, on Friday.
Opening the day for India, Sandeep (46kg) defeated Javlonbek Eshmatov of Uzbekistan 8-4 to set up a summit clash with Armenian Koryun Soghomonyan.
Soghomonyan ousted Russia's Mogomed Djabrailov by a comprehensive 10-4 margin.
"Sandeep fought from a distance. He never allowed the Kazakh guy to come too close," India's coach M S Dhaka said from Yerevan.
"Being a southpaw, he also gets a unique advantage of surprising his opponent with the occasional right hooks that get him points," he added.
The Indian had a 5-0 cushion after the opening round and played it safe thereafter.
However, there was disappointment elsewhere as Namit Bahadur (50kg), Vikas Khatri (54kg) and Shiva Thapa (52kg) lost in the semi-finals and settled for bronze medals at the premier junior event of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).
While Namit lost 3-7 to Kazakhstan's Talgat Bertleuov, Vikas Khatri (54kg) went down 2-5 to Yunior Ernesto Valdes Boleri of Cuba.
Later in the evening, Shiva, a gold medallist at last year's Hyder Aliyev Cup, bowed out after a 4-8 defeat at the hands of Kazakh Yerbolat Seidalliyev.
Namit was trailing from the start and down 2-4 at the end of the second round. The gap widened in the deciding round and he ultimately lost 3-7.
"Namit was under pressure even before the bout. The intensity that I wanted was missing. Perhaps competing at such a big stage got the better of him," Dhaka said.
Vikas, however, fought hard even though he couldn't maintain the tempo in the closing stages.
Vikas and Valdes Boleri were tied 1-1 in the first round. The two continued to go neck-and-neck, ending the second round 2-2 but the Cuban forged ahead in the decider.
While Valdes Boleri scored three points in the third round, Vikas failed to get on the score sheet.
"It was a close one. Vikas fought really hard. He never seemed in awe of the Cuban fellow but just didn't have the luck," Dhaka said.
Shiva, meanwhile, matched Seidalliyev initially but trailed thereafter. Down 2-6 at the end of the first round, Shiva could only score a couple of more points in the remaining two rounds against his formidable rival.
