Bronze medalist of the Olympic Games in Tokyo Lovlina Borgohaincurrent world champion Nikhat Zareen and silver medalist of the 2019 World Championships Manju Rani they advanced to the semi-finals Polish Women’s Boxing Championships 2022 in Bhopal on Saturday.
Assam’s Lovlina Borgohain competed in the quarter-finals of the 75 kg category with Meena Rani of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB). The superb technical ability of the 2022 Asian champion saw her go through the entire fight with almost no chance for her opponent to try. In the end, Lovlina won 5-0 via unanimous decision and secured a place in the semi-finals of the tournament, where she will face Jigyasa Rajput of Madhya Pradesh.
Nikhat Zareen, who faced Goa’s Taniksha Chawar in the quarter-finals of the 50 kg category, hardly broke a sweat and was in the lead from the start. The Telangana-born boxer defeated her opponent and won after the referee stopped the fight at the end of the second round. Nikhat will now face Shvinder Kaur Sidhu of the All India Police (AIP) in her semi-final bout.
RSPB’s Manju Rani won the 48kg quarter-final against Simran from Chandigarh. Manju was at her best attack and defeated her opponent 5–0 via unanimous decision. In his semi-final matchup, he will face Anjali Sharma from Madhya Pradesh.
Along with Manju, Jyoti (52 kg) and Shashi Chopra (63 kg), who also represent the RSPB, won their bouts and gave their team a successful day at the office. While Jyoti fiercely won 4-3 against 2022 Asian Championships silver medalist Minakshi Hooda, Shashi secured a 4-1 win over Niharika Gonekla of Telangana.
Meanwhile, the bronze medalist of the 2018 world championships Simranjit Kaur who represents Punjab in the 60 kg weight class, also put on a great performance, triumphing over Barbi Gogoi of Assam when the referee stopped the fight in the second round and went on to the semi-finals.
Shvinder Kaur Sidhu (50kg) and Kros Hmangaihsangi (60kg) won against Ashalata Chanu from Manipur and Vaishnavi from Goa respectively and advanced to the semi-finals.
The semi-finals of the Polish Women’s Boxing Championships 2022 will take place on Sunday.
