India's Lalitha Prasad (49kg) and Sandeep Sharma (75kg) had to settle for a bronze medal after losing out to their respective opponents in the final round of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Armenia on Thursday.

India's Lalitha Prasad (49kg) and Sandeep Sharma (75kg) had to settle for a bronze medal after losing out to their respective opponents in the final round of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Armenia on Thursday.

Prasad lost to Bin LV of China while Sandeep went down to Magomed Madyiev of Russia in the semi-final.

Prasad seemed off colour against the feisty Chinese boxers who made full use of the canvas throughout the bout. Playing the outside game he made it difficult for Prasad to get within attacking distance and do the required damage; the 17-year-old Indian was down a one-point deficit after the opening three minutes of play (2-3).

Prasad, a multiple Youth National Champion, was found lacking in aggression and Bin kept nicking points with his counter jabs and hooks. Prasad finally lost the bout on points (8-13). A disappointed Coach G Manoharan said, “Prasad could have been more aggressive in the final round, but in the end the Chinese turned out to be the better boxer. His ring movement was exceptional along with his counters that turned out to be the difference between the two fighters”.

Sandeep, gave a good account of his skills against some formidable boxing from the Russian boxer, but in the end Magomed proved to be too strong for the Indian. The first round saw both fighters scoring 4 points apiece. But a nasty left cross from the compact Russian fighter did some damage to the Indian's nose and seemed to put him on the back foot.

In the second round Magomed opened up a gap landing in a few meaty punches; Sandeep was now down a three-point deficit (6-9). He came back strongly in the final round, but was not effective as he wasn’t able to connect much. The Russian on the other hand kept gaining points with his straight punches whenever Sandeep came in to attack. In the end Sandeep had to be content with a bronze medal finish after a 9-15 loss.

The evening session of play will witness Narender Berwal (+91kg) the lone Indian boxer in the fray, compete for a place in the finals. He will square off against Germany's Florian Schulz who eliminated tournament favourite Yohandi Toirac of Cuba.