New Delhi [India], March 22 (ANI): Continuing her wealthy vein of kind, Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) added a 3rd World Championships medal to her tally with an emphatic 5-0 win in opposition to final 12 months’s World Championships bronze medallist Rady Gramane of Mozambique on the ongoing IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships on Wednesday.
Lovlina Borgohain, Nitu Ghanghas, Nikhat Zareen and Saweety Boora enter semis, World champions Qian, Khalzova and Olympics medallist Irma additionally safe medals; semi-finals to happen on Thursday.
The 25 12 months outdated Indian performed on the prime of her sport and displayed a spectacular mixture of assault and defence to ship her opponent packing by unanimous choice.
“The coaches had told me how to play today and it worked successfully as I was able to fight well. I feel comfortable in this weight category and I have adapted to it well with my performances in competitions going well. Today’s medal is very important for me but I don’t want to settle for bronze as it is going to be crucial for the upcoming Asian Games as well,” stated Lovlina after the bout.
Lovlina will take to the ring for a high-profile conflict in opposition to the 2018 World Champion and two-time Olympics medallist Li Qian of China within the semi-finals.
Earlier within the day, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Nitu Ghanghas made it a hat trick of Referee Stops Contest (RSC) wins after securing a scintillating win in opposition to the two-time Worlds bronze medallist Madoka Wada of Japan with the RSC verdict within the second spherical of the bout. With an attacking method from the phrase go, the 22-year-old hardly needed to break a sweat in opposition to the veteran Japanese and was in full management of the bout.
The Indian will now tackle the reigning Asian champion and final 12 months’s World Championships silver medallist Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan in what will likely be a rematch of final 12 months’s World Championships quarter-finals.
Following Nitu’s victory, Nikhat Zareen efficiently continued her title defence by recording a hard-fought 5-2 win on factors after the bout was reviewed in opposition to the two-time World Championships bronze medallist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand. Both pugilists had been on the prime of their sport and gave it their all to emerge victorious on this bout that went proper down the wire. However, it was the 26-year-old Indian who utilized her superior technical potential to edge out her Thai opponent and are available out on prime with the win.
Nikhat will face Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia within the semi-finals.
Contrary to Nikhat, the three-time Asian medallist Saweety (81kg) recorded a dominating 5-0 win in opposition to the 2018 World Championships bronze medallist Viktoria Kebikava of Belarus. In what was her first match of the match, the skilled pugilist from Haryana was extraordinarily assured all through the bout and landed robust, correct punches to seal the win. She will likely be going up in opposition to Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia in her subsequent bout.
Having secured 4 medals, India have bettered their file from the earlier World Championships version the place it had clinched three medals.
Meanwhile, the two-time World Youth champion Sakshi Chaudhary (52kg), the 2022 World Championships bronze medallists Manisha Moun (57kg) and Jaismine Lamboria (60kg) in addition to Nupur Sheoran (81kg) went down preventing within the quarter-finals regardless of their finest efforts.
In an exciting battle of the heavyweights, the 2016 World Champion Valentina Khalzova (75kg) of Kazakhstan defeated five-time Worlds medallist Elif Guneri of Turkey 4-0 on factors after the bout was reviewed. The 2020 Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa (57kg) of Italy and the 2018 Asian Games champion Oh Yeonji (60kg) additionally progressed to the semi-finals with equivalent 5-0 victories. (ANI)