New Delhi [India], March 23 (ANI): Prominent Indian pugilists Nitu Ghanghas and Nikhat Zareen produced monumental shows to file contrasting victories and attain the finals of the Mahindra IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship on the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex right here on Thursday.
With three consecutive Referee Stops Contest (RSC) wins underneath her belt, Nitu (48kg) continued her outstanding run on the match towards 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 towards 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 the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion saved her cool to get the higher of her opponent. The southpaw well landed correct punches and showcased immense grit to achieve the finals of the competitors for the very first time.
Nitu will now tackle the 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Mongolia within the remaining on Saturday.
Contrary to Nitu’s fiercely contested bout, Nikhat (50kg) had a simple day 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 recreation, 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 following few rounds and dominated the bout, giving her Colombian opponent no likelihood to make a comeback and sealed the win by unanimous resolution. Nikhat will now face the two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam within the remaining on Sunday.
Later tonight, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) and three-time Asian medallist Saweety Boora (81kg) might be competing of their respective semi-finals bouts. While Lovlina will face the 2018 World Champion and two-time Olympics medallist Li Qian of China, Saweety will sq. off towards Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia.
The on-going prestigious occasion is witnessing the participation of 324 boxers, together with a number of Olympic medallists from 65 international locations preventing for the titles within the 12 weight classes. The match has a large prize pool of Rs 20 crore. (ANI)