Women’s Boxing Championships: Four boxers including Nikhat reached quarter finals, one step away from medal

Defending champion Nikhat Zareen stands just one step away from a world women’s boxing medal. Not just Nikhat (50 weight category) but also two-time world youth boxing champion Neetu (48) of Haryana, Manisha Maun (57), who won a bronze in the last World Championships and Jasmine (60 weight category), who won a bronze in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Has also entered the quarterfinals with the win. If all the four boxers enter the semi-finals then their medal is assured. Meanwhile, in the pre-quarterfinals of 63 and 66 weight categories, Shashi Chopra and Manju Bamboriya lost to Mai Kito of Japan and Navbakhor Khamidova of Uzbekistan. Nikhat, Jasmine won 5-0 and Neetu, Manisha RSC (referee stoppage).

Nikhat is playing six bout tournament for the first time
This is the first time in her boxing career that Nikhat has to fight six bouts in a single tournament. In the second round, she defeated top seed Roumaysa of Algeria, but Nikhat says the fatigue of that bout has not yet set in. Many punches of Roumaysa hit his neck, which he is still in pain. Despite this, she easily defeated Mexico’s Fatima Alvarez Herrera in the pre-quarterfinals. He had also defeated Fatima in the last championship. She will take on Thailand’s Raksak in the quarterfinals.

Neetu won again in the first round
For Neetu, two-time world youth champion and winner of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the competition was once again easy. Like in the first match, here too she defeated Sumaiya Osimova of Tajikistan in the first round. Straight punches from his right hand proved dangerous for Osimova. The referee initially counted the count against Osimawa, but with 52 seconds left in round one, the referee stopped the fight because of Neetu’s powerful punches. However, Osimova was not happy. Neetu later admitted that she prefers to land straight punches with her right hand. He won both the bouts with this punch. Though Neetu had come expecting to play the match for three rounds, Osimova could not stand against her.

Manisha one step away from removing the pain of five years ago
In 2018, Manisha could not win a medal in the World Championship held at the same KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, but her stellar performance till the quarter-finals laid the foundation for her future. Manisha won the World Championship medal last year and here also she is standing just one step away from the medal. He forced Turkey’s Nur Alif Turhan to stop the bout two seconds before the end of the bout. Turhan was playing very aggressively. He tried to knock Manisha out, but his straight punches forced the referee to count him four times. In the 63rd weight category, Shashi Chopra suffered a 0-4 defeat at the hands of Japan’s Mai Kito. After losing the first round, Kito kept a strong guard in the second and third rounds and landed punches on occasion.

Jasmine returns in the last two rounds
Jasmine defeated Tajikistan’s Mijgona Samadova 5-0. However, Samadova put Jasmine under pressure in the first round. She lost the round 2-3, but later came back strongly to win both the rounds 5-0. Manju, on the other hand, could not pose any challenge to Asian champion Khamidova and went down 0-5.