New Delhi [India], March 23 (ANI): Prominent Indian pugilists Nitu Ghanghas, Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain and Saweety Boora produced highly effective performances to succeed in the finals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship because the hosts dominated proceedings on the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex right here on Thursday.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina (75kg) reached her maiden World Championships ultimate after ousting the 2018 World Champion Li Qian of China with a 4:1 victory on factors after the bout was reviewed. The bout saved going forwards and backwards with the Assam born pugilist grinding onerous to prevail by 3:2 within the first spherical earlier than her Chinese opponent made a comeback to win within the second by 2:3.
Despite each pugilists going hammer and tongs, it was the 25-year-old Indian who shifted gears impressively and sealed the win with a supreme attacking show within the ultimate spherical. Lovlina will face the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Caitlin Parker of Australia within the ultimate on Sunday.
Wrapping up India’s dominance within the semi-finals, three-time Asian medallist Saweety (81kg) put up a stellar efficiency to beat Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia 4-3 on factors after the bout was reviewed. Being at her attacking finest, the dynamic pugilist from Hisar utilized her huge expertise and energy to overcome her opponent within the fiercely contested bout. She will now go up in opposition to the 2018 World Champion Wang Lina of China within the ultimate on Saturday.
Earlier within the day, with three consecutive Referee Stops Contest (RSC) wins below her belt, Nitu (48kg) continued her exceptional run on the match in opposition to the reigning Asian champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan with a hard-earned 5-2 win on factors after the bout was reviewed. Having suffered a defeat in opposition to the Kazakh within the quarter-finals of the final World Championships, the 22-year-old Indian had a degree to show this time spherical.
Both pugilists have been neck and neck in all three rounds and whereas Balkibekova saved Nitu all through the bout, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion saved her cool to get the higher of her opponent. The southpaw neatly landed correct punches and showcased immense grit to succeed in the finals of the competitors for the very first time.
“There was some pressure before the bout as I had lost to her (Balkibekova) last year and did not want to repeat that again. I knew I had to play with my mind and keep some patience today as I would lose the bout if I got puzzled even a little. The coaches had told me to not give her distance as she will start playing her game from long range so I made sure to play from close range. This win has given me a lot of confidence and I will definitely do well in the finals as well,” commented Nitu after her bout.
Nitu will now tackle the 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Mongolia within the ultimate on Saturday.
Contrary to Nitu’s fiercely contested bout, Nikhat (50kg) had a straightforward day on the workplace as she continued her quest for back-to-back World Championships gold medals by outpunching the veteran Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia and securing a 5-0 win. Being on the high of her sport, the 26-year-old star pugilist utilized her fast motion and stellar energy to regulate the bout from the phrase go.
She maintained her composure going into the subsequent few rounds and dominated the bout, giving her Colombian opponent no probability to make a comeback and sealed the win by unanimous determination.
“Out of all the matches in the competition, I feel like today’s bout was my best performance. My game gets better as I continue playing against more technical boxers and having played against Ingrit earlier, I had an idea of how to play today. After the first two rounds my strategy was to play from distance and not let her attack while also containing her attacks when she started to get aggressive. There’s only one match to go now which I hopefully win and defend my title,” stated Nikhat after the bout.
Nikhat will now face the two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam within the ultimate on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa (57kg) of Italy gained 5:0 in opposition to Zidani Amina of France to succeed in her second consecutive World Championships ultimate. The Italian will sq. off in opposition to Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova, who shocked the two-time World Champion Lin-Yu Ting of Chinese Taipei in her semi-final bout.
The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira of Brazil (60kg) additionally secured her berth within the ultimate after defeating the 2018 Asian Games champion Oh Yeonji of South Korea by unanimous determination. (ANI)