Three medals confirmed as Nikhat, Nitu, Saweety storm into Women’s World Boxing Championships semis | Boxing News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), Saweety Boora (81kg) and Nikhat Zareen (50kg) produced superlative performances to assure India of three medals at the Women’s Boxing World Championships after reaching the semifinals on Wednesday.
Commonwealth Games champion Nitu, who was the first Indian to take the ring, recorded a second-round RSC (referee stops contest) win over Madoka Wada of Japan in the quarterfinals.
Nitu will now take on the reigning Asian champion and last year’s World Championships silver medallist Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan in what will be a rematch of last year’s World Championships quarter-finals.
Top seed Saweety confirmed her second world championship medal after getting better of 2018 bronze-medal winner Viktoriya Kebikava of Belarus 5-0 to. She had won the silver in 2014.
Nikhat successfully continued her title defence by recording a hard-fought 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed against the two-time World Championships bronze medallist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand.
Both pugilists were at the top of their game and gave it their all to emerge victorious in this bout that went right down the wire. However it was the 26-year old Indian who utilized her superior technical ability to edge out her Thai opponent and come out on top with the win.
“Yes, today’s bout was stressful but I won by a split decision so I am really happy that I secured a medal for my country, and going forward I’ll win the gold medal too. My strategy today was to win in the first 2 rounds and then play around in the last. I won the 2 rounds but from 3:2 in each so in the last round, I aimed to play from a long range but there was a lot of clinching so my body got a little tired. All the bouts I have had till now were powerful but for me, it’s been a good experience to keep moving forward and defeating them so hopefully I will keep moving forward like this and fight for my country.” said Nikhat after the bout.
Nikhat will face Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the two-time World Youth champion Sakshi Chaudhary (52kg) and the 2022 World Championships bronze medallist Manisha Moun (57kg) went down fighting in the quarter finals despite their best efforts. While Sakshi lost 0:5 against Wu Lu of China, Manisha lost 1:4 against Amina Zidani of France and bowed out of the competition.
The 2020 Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa (57kg) of Italy also secured her place in the semi-finals after beating Jucielen Romeu of Brazil with a 5-0 scoreline. The Italian who won silver at last year’s World Championships looked determined to better that this time round and proved it with her stellar performance.
The on-going prestigious event is witnessing the participation of 324 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 65 countries fighting for the titles in the 12 weight categories. The tournament has a massive prize pool of Rs 20 crore.
Commonwealth Games champion Nitu, who was the first Indian to take the ring, recorded a second-round RSC (referee stops contest) win over Madoka Wada of Japan in the quarterfinals.
Nitu will now take on the reigning Asian champion and last year’s World Championships silver medallist Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan in what will be a rematch of last year’s World Championships quarter-finals.
Top seed Saweety confirmed her second world championship medal after getting better of 2018 bronze-medal winner Viktoriya Kebikava of Belarus 5-0 to. She had won the silver in 2014.
Nikhat successfully continued her title defence by recording a hard-fought 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed against the two-time World Championships bronze medallist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand.
Both pugilists were at the top of their game and gave it their all to emerge victorious in this bout that went right down the wire. However it was the 26-year old Indian who utilized her superior technical ability to edge out her Thai opponent and come out on top with the win.
“Yes, today’s bout was stressful but I won by a split decision so I am really happy that I secured a medal for my country, and going forward I’ll win the gold medal too. My strategy today was to win in the first 2 rounds and then play around in the last. I won the 2 rounds but from 3:2 in each so in the last round, I aimed to play from a long range but there was a lot of clinching so my body got a little tired. All the bouts I have had till now were powerful but for me, it’s been a good experience to keep moving forward and defeating them so hopefully I will keep moving forward like this and fight for my country.” said Nikhat after the bout.
Nikhat will face Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, the two-time World Youth champion Sakshi Chaudhary (52kg) and the 2022 World Championships bronze medallist Manisha Moun (57kg) went down fighting in the quarter finals despite their best efforts. While Sakshi lost 0:5 against Wu Lu of China, Manisha lost 1:4 against Amina Zidani of France and bowed out of the competition.
The 2020 Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa (57kg) of Italy also secured her place in the semi-finals after beating Jucielen Romeu of Brazil with a 5-0 scoreline. The Italian who won silver at last year’s World Championships looked determined to better that this time round and proved it with her stellar performance.
The on-going prestigious event is witnessing the participation of 324 boxers, including several Olympic medallists, from 65 countries fighting for the titles in the 12 weight categories. The tournament has a massive prize pool of Rs 20 crore.
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