Finance
As the hosts dominated proceedings at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here on Thursday, star Indian pugilists Nitu Ghanghas, Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, and Saweety Boora produced monumental performances to reach the finals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship.
With three consecutive Referee Stops Contest (RSC) wins under her belt, Nitu (48kg) continued her remarkable run at the tournament against the reigning Asian champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan with a hard-earned 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed. After losing to Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals of the last World Championships, the 22-year-old Indian had a point to prove this time.
Both pugilists were neck-and-neck throughout the three rounds, and while Balkibekova kept Nitu at bay, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion kept her cool to defeat her opponent. The southpaw landed accurate punches and displayed tremendous grit to reach the competition’s finals for the 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 take on the 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the final on Saturday.
Nikhat (50kg) had an easy day at the office, as she continued her quest for back-to-back World Championships gold medals by outpunching veteran Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia and winning 5-0. The 26-year-old star pugilist, who was at the top of her game, used her quick movement and stellar strength to control the bout from the start.
She maintained her composure going into the next few rounds and dominated the bout, giving her Colombian opponent no chance to make a comeback and sealing the win by unanimous decision.
“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,” said Nikhat after the bout.
Nikhat will now compete in the final against two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam on Sunday.
Later in the day, in what was a clash between two highly decorated pugilists, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina (75kg) reached her maiden World Championships final after ousting the 2018 World Champion Li Qian of China with a 4:1 victory on points after the bout was reviewed.
The fight went back and forth, with the Assam-born pugilist winning by 3:2 in the first round before her Chinese opponent came back to win by 2:3 in the second.
Despite both pugilists going at it hammer and tongs, it was the 25-year-old Indian who impressively shifted gears and sealed the victory with a supreme attacking display in the final round. Lovlina will compete in the final against two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Caitlin Parker of Australia on Sunday.
Three-time Asian medalist Saweety (81kg) put up a stellar performance to beat Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia 4-3 on points after the bout was reviewed, capping off India’s dominance in the semifinals. The dynamic pugilist from Hisar, who was at her attacking best, used her vast experience and strength to defeat her opponent in the fiercely contested bout. She will now face China’s 2018 World Champion Wang Lina in the final on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Irma Testa (57kg) of Italy won 5:0 against Zidani Amina of France to advance to her second consecutive World Championships final. The Italian will square off against Kazakhstan’s Karina Ibragimova who stunned the two-time World Champion Lin-Yu Ting of Chinese Taipei in her semifinal bout.
Beatriz Iasmin Ferreira of Brazil (60kg) also qualified for the final after defeating 2018 Asian Games champion Oh Yeonji of South Korea by unanimous decision.
Source:OCN
