Nikhat, Lovlina, Nitu and Saweety slug their way to the threshold of glory

was a treat for the Indian fans as all the four home boxers, including World champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), recorded creditable wins to book their berths in the finals of the World women’s boxing championships at the K.D. Jadhav Hall here on Thursday.

Besides the two stars, Commonwealth Games champion Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Asian champion Saweety Boora (81kg) fought hard to script a successful day for the host.

Nitu shocked Worlds silver medallist and current Asian champion Alua Balkibekova 5-2. in a close contest.

The hard-hitting Alua took the opening round, but an undaunted Nitu, who lost to the same opponent in the previous edition, rallied to execute quick combinations from a close range to secure the next two despite a lot of holding from the tired Kazakh. Nitu will take on Mongolia’s Altansetseg Lutsaikhan.

Nikhat, the 52kg gold medallist, raised her game to beat Colombian World and Olympic medallist Ingrit Valencia 5-0 and reach her second consecutive final in a different weight.

Utilising her experience of her victory over southpaw Ingrit in a 2019 Big Bout League match, Nikhat moved well and used an effective right straight and some combinations to claim the first two rounds before playing it safe in the third.

“When my old tactics worked in the first round, I continued with it,” said Nikhat, who would square-off against Vietnamese Thi Tam Ngyuen.

Lovlina provided more excitement by outsmarting China’s multiple World and Olympic medallist Li Qian 4-1.

Li’s power-packed punches got her the first round. Lovlina connected punches from a long range to take the second and spectacularly used the double-left-jab-and-right combination in the third to ensure victory. She will face Australia’s Caitlin Parker for the honours.

Saweety showcased her headshots to edge out Australian Emma-Sue Greentree 4-3 and set up the title bout against Lina Wang of China.

The results (semifinals):

48kg: Nitu Ghanghas bt Alua Balkibekova (Kaz) 5-2; Altansetseg Lutsaikhan (Mgl) bt Yasmine Mouttaki (Mar) 5-0.

50kg: Nikhat Zareen bt Ingrit Valencia (Col) 5-0; Thi Tam Ngyuen (Vie) bt Wassila Lkhadiri (Fra) 4-1.

52kg: Yu Wu (Chn) bt Yuliya Apanasovich (Blr) 5-0; Sirine Charaabi (Ita) bt Rinka Kinoshiita (Jpn) 4-1.

54kg: Hsian-Wen Huang (Tpe) bt Jutamas Jitpong (Tha) 5-0; Yeni Arias (Col) bt Enkhjargal Mungunsetseg (Mgl) 4-1.

57kg: Irma Testa (Ita) bt Amina Zidani (Fra) 5-0; Karina Ibragimova (Kaz) bt Yu-Ting Lin (Tpe) 4-3.

60kg: Beatriz Ferreira (Bra) bt Yeonji Oh (Kor) 5-0; Paola Valdez (Col) bt Wenlu Yang (Chn) 5-0.

63kg: Nataliya Sychugova (Rus) bt Camila Gabriela Camilo (Col) 4-1; Chengyu Yang (Chn) bt Fatia Benmessahel (Fra) 5-0.

66kg: Imane Khelif (Alg) bt Janjaem Suwannapheng (Tha) 5-0; Liu Yang (Chn) bt Nadezhda Ryabets (Kaz) 4-1.

70kg: Anastasiia Demurchian (Rus) bt Pan Zhou (Chn) 5-0; Kaye Scott (Aus) bt Barbara Dos Santos (Bra) 4-3.

75kg: Lovlina Borgohain bt Li Qian (Chn) 4-1; Caitlin Parker (Aus) bt Valentina Khalzova (Kaz) 5-0.

81kg: Saweety Boora bt Emma-Sue Greentree (Aus) 4-3; Lina Wang (Chn) bt Fariza Sholtay (Kaz) 4-1.

+81kg: Khadija Mardi (Mar) bt Diana Pyatak (Rus) 5-0; Lazzat Kungeibayeva (Kaz) bt Aynur Rzayeva (Aze) 5-0.