Taekwondo
U21 Taekwondo World C'ships: Ankit Mer, Nitesh Singh win India's first-ever medals
Ankit Mer beat the world champion enroute his silver medal win.
Ankit Mer won silver at U21 World Taekwondo C'ships
In a first, India clinched two world championships medal in Taekwondo as Nitesh Singh and Ankit Mer clinched a bronze and silver respectively at the inaugural edition of U21 Taekwondo World C'ships on Friday.
Nitesh earned the distinction of becoming the first Indian to medal at the global competition as he entered the semi-finals of his weight category, beating an athlete from Poland.
Though he lost his semi-final against Bulgaria, it was enough to secure himself a bronze medal.
However it was Ankit, who caught the imagination of the world as he beat the reigning senior world champion Seo-Eun Su of South Korea en-route his silver medal finish in 54kg.
Up against Seo in the Round of 16, Ankit made quick work of the South Korea to make the world take note of his talent.
The youngster then went on to beat the senior world championships quarter-finalist Hristiyan Georgiev of Bulgaria in the semi-finals to move into the gold medal bout.
In the final, Ankit went down 0-2 to Moataz Bellah Asem of Egypt.
