New Delhi [India],March 25 (ANI): Scripting historical past, the younger Indian pugilist Nitu Ghanghas was topped as a World Champion for the primary time after registering a sensational victory within the finals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship right here on the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex right here on Saturday.
Maintaining her crimson sizzling kind, Nitu (48kg) made lightwork of the two-time Asian bronze medallist Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Kazakhstan to safe a outstanding 5-0 win by unanimous determination. The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist began off the bout energetically by touchdown a fast flurry of punches on the Kazakh and utilised her sensible motion and aggressive strategy to prevail within the first two rounds by 5-0 and 3-2 scorelines respectively.
The southpaw continued her momentum within the ultimate spherical by showcasing an excellent mixture of relentless assault and resolute defence and sealed the win by unanimous determination. Throughout the bout, it was Nitu’s endurance and attacking supremacy from shut vary that helped her dominate Lutsaikhan and emerge victorious in her maiden World Championships ultimate.
“I had decided to play aggressively today before the bout and I feel very happy (after the victory). I am proud of myself and my family and would like to thank my coaches, especially my head coach Bhaskar sir,” stated Nitu after her bout.
With this victory, the 22-year-old pugilist from Bhiwani capped off a stellar marketing campaign the place she proved her mettle by ousting notable pugilists together with the two-time Worlds bronze medallist Madoka Wada of Japan and the two-time Asian champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan.
In the 57kg class, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa of Italy additionally clinched her first World Championships gold as she outpunched Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan with a 5-0 win. The Italian, who needed to accept silver on the match’s earlier version after a hard-fought 1-4 defeat in opposition to Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei, gave it her all to keep away from a repeat of that outcome this time spherical and secured a memorable victory.
Following Nitu’s historic triumph, India’s quest for gold medals will proceed when the three-time Asian medallist Saweety Boora takes to the ring later to face the 2018 World Champion Wang Lina of China later tonight.
On Sunday, the reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain take to the ring for his or her respective finals bout.
Nikhat (50kg) will tackle the two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in a bid for back-to-back World Championships gold medals whereas Lovlina (75kg) will sq. off in opposition to the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Caitlin Parker of Australia.
The ongoing prestigious occasion is witnessing the participation of 324 boxers, together with a number of Olympic medallists, from 65 nations combating for titles within the 12 weight classes. The match has a large prize pool of INR 20 crore. (ANI)