Lairenlakpam Ambekar Meetei stood his ground in Dakar and punched his way into Indian sports folklore. The Manipuri flyweight seized gold in the men's 50kg final at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, edging Ireland’s Kristian Jubani on a razor-thin 3-2 split decision.
Three judges awarded the bout to the Indian fighter. Two saw it for Jubani. The margins were tiny, but Meetei’s sharper hand speed and relentless counter-punching carried the day across three bruising rounds.
The triumph snapped a 16-year title drought for Indian boxing at the Youth Olympics. Not since Shiva Thapa fought his way into the bantamweight final at the inaugural 2010 Games in Singapore had an Indian boxer stood on the cusp of a Youth Olympic gold medal. Thapa finished with silver. Ambekar went one better—turning Indian boxing’s long-standing silver ceiling into gold.
And he did it off the back of a merciless tournament run. Before stepping into the ring against Jubani, the National Institute of Sports (NIS) trainee from Patiala blew open the semifinal bracket by outclassing Colombia’s Izzon Jeffrey Galea Arevalo. Ambekar dismantled Arevalo with clean combinations and ring movement, picking up an emphatic 5-0 unanimous decision to punch his ticket to the championship bout.
| Bout Stage | Opponent | Country | Result | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinal | Izzon Jeffrey Galea Arevalo | Colombia | Win | 5-0 (Unanimous) |
| Final | Kristian Jubani | Ireland | Win (Gold) | 3-2 (Split Decision) |
Aided by his formative training at NIS Patiala, the Manipuri teenager now returns home with Indian boxing’s benchmark Youth Olympic prize in hand.