Finance
Exuberant Indian pugilists Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora were crowned World Champions for the first time on Saturday after recording contrasting victories in the finals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
While Nitu (48kg) won her first World Championships medal with a 5-0 victory over Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg, three-time Asian medallist Saweety (81kg) had to work hard to secure a 4-3 win on points after the bout was reviewed against Wang Lina of China.
Nitu (48kg) maintained her red-hot form, utilizing her attacking supremacy from close range and smart movement to easily defeat the two-time Asian bronze medalist Lutsaikhan.
The 22-year-old pugilist from Bhiwani began the bout with a flurry of punches on the Mongolian and demonstrated a brilliant combination of relentless attack and tenacious defense to win by unanimous decision.
“I am very happy after winning the gold medal. I fell short in my quest for the gold last year so we worked on the mistakes and won it this time round in front of the home support. Having discussed with my coaches yesterday I had decided to be aggressive since the first round today to get the scores in my favour. I have been working hard for many years and this medal means a lot to me,” said Nitu after her bout.
Saweety faced a tough challenge from 2018 World Champion Wang Lina in her second World Championships final. Throughout the bout, however, the Indian used her high technical ability and strength to impressively overpower her opponent in the closely contested bout.
“I am thrilled after fulfilling my dream of becoming the World Champion. The bout went well and I was able to execute our planning perfectly. My performances in the tournament got better as the bouts progressed with my body also responding well. I want to thank the fans for their constant love and support,” said Saweety after the bout.
Both pugilists were awarded with INR 82.7 lakh ($100,000) each in prize money for being crowned as the World Champions.
In the 57kg weight class, Irma Testa of Italy won her first World Championships gold by outpunching Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan 5-0. The Italian, who had to settle for silver in the previous tournament after a hard-fought 1-4 loss to Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei, gave it her all this time around to avoid a repeat of that result and secured a memorable victory.
Following Nitu and Saweety’s historic victories, India’s quest for two more gold medals will continue on Sunday, when reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain compete in their finals bouts.
Nikhat (50kg) will compete for back-to-back World Championship gold medals against two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam, while Lovlina (75kg) will compete against two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Caitlin Parker of Australia.
Source:OC
