Tournament favorites Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain lived up to expectations as they secured medals for India with quarter-final victories along with two other home boxers at the ongoing women’s boxing world championships on Wednesday. Reigning champion Nikhat (50 kg) competed in new weight divisions and took a 5-2 victory over Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat to secure her second world medal and then Lovlina (75 kg) added a third medal to her cat with a 5- 0 victory over Adosinda Rady Gramane from Mozambique.
In addition to the duo, Commonwealth Games champion Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and seasoned Saweety Boora (81kg) also advanced to the semi-finals.
However, it was a roller coaster day for India as four boxers — Sakshi Choudhary (52 kg), the previous edition’s bronze medalist Manisha Moun (57 kg), CWG bronze medalist Jaismine Lamboria (60 kg) and Nupur Sheoran (81 kg) failed to move to India. the last four stages.
While Sakshi lost 0-5 to Yu Wu of China, Manisha was beaten 1-4 by Amina Zidani of France.
Like last year, Jaismine again faltered in the quarterfinals, falling 0-5 to Colombian Paola Valdez. Nupur went down fighting against Kazakhstan’s Lazzat Kungeibayeva 3-4 after a fight review.
Nikhat and Lovlina march on
Nikhat had to dig deep to get a favorable decision against two-time world championship bronze medalist. She attacked cautiously in the first two rounds, hitting clean punches.
“I wanted to play from a long distance but there was a lot of clinching so my body got a bit tired. All the bouts I’ve had so far have been powerful but for me it’s been a good experience to keep moving forward and they so hopefully I will continue this way and fight for my country,” she said.
The Indian used her back-to-back left-right hands to beat her veteran opponent in the first two rounds, but subdued a bit in the final round when the fight was sent to judgement.
Nikhat will compete in the semifinals against the bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Rio, Ingrit Valencia from Colombia.
Lovlina, who has been through a rough patch since winning bronze in the Olympics, performed much better than her previous round, as she controlled the competition.
Unstoppable Nitu
The 22-year-old Nitu, the first Indian to take the ring, scored a second-round RSC (Referee Stops Match) victory against Japan’s Madoka Wada in her quarterfinals.
Nitu looked a little hesitant at first, but as the seconds ticked down, she grew more confident and attacked her opponent.
Midway through the first round, Nitu, the 2022 Strandja Memorial gold medalist, moved forward and threw a combination of clean, accurate punches to force the referee to give Wada her first standing count.
Another series of punches from Nitu in the second round forced the referee to stop the match and decide the result in favor of the home boxer.
Nitu has won all of her three matches in the tournament so far by RSC rulings.
“I had to be careful and couldn’t be aggressive because she (Wada) was also a southpaw like me, but towards the end (of the match) I thought I could attack,” said Nitu after the fight.
“The advantage of RSC winning all three of my bouts is that my opponents will be under pressure for the next few bouts,” she said. She will face reigning Asian champion and last year’s silver medalist Alua Balkibekova from Kazakhstan in the semifinals.
Saweety starts off strong
Saweety, playing her first match of the tournament, met her best placement to dispatch 2018 bronze medalist Viktoriya Kebikava of Belarus 5-0 to confirm her second World Cup medal. In 2014 she won silver.
Multi-time national champion Saweety, who received a bye in the first round, was just one win away from a medal and the 30-year-old managed to comfortably earn it. The fight between the two light-heavyweight boxers was a messy affair filled with body blows. But Saweety defended and attacked well, landing hooks and jabs with ease.
Saweety will face Australia’s Emma-Sue Greentree in her next fight.
2020 Olympic Games bronze medalist Irma Testa (57 kg) from Italy also secured her place in the semifinals after defeating Jucielen Romeu from Brazil with a 5-0 scoreline.
The Italian, who won silver at last year’s World Championships, seemed determined to improve her result this time and proved it with a great performance. PTI APA APA SSC SSC
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