Women's World Boxing Championship: Indians confirm four medals

Lovlina Borgohain, Nitu Ghanghas, Nikhat Zareen, and Saweety Boora showed some fantastic performances and winning their matches respectively confirmed four medals for India in the Women’s World Boxing Championships. They all advanced to the semi-finals on Wednesday at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina (75kg) secured her third world championship medal with a 5-0 win against Rady Gramane who is from Mozambique. Lovlina was at the top level of her game. She kept on changing her attack and defense depending on the situation of the game.

After the game, Lovlina said,” The coaches had told me how to play today and it worked successfully as I was able to fight well. I feel comfortable in this weight category, and I have adapted it well with my performances in competitions going well. Today’s medal is important for me, but I do not want to settle for bronze as it is going to be crucial for the upcoming Asian Games as well.” Lovlina Borgohain will face Li Qian of China in the semi-finals. Li Qian is a two-time Olympics medalist and 2018 World Champion.

How did Nikhat, Nitu and Saweety do?

In the women’s 48kg, Nitu Ghanghas, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, won the game against two-time Worlds bronze medalist Madoka Wada of Japan. The decision was made by Referee Stops Contest (RSC). This was also her third RSC victory in a row. Nitu had an extremely aggressive approach throughout the game, and she was in control and the driving seat of the game. Nitu will now face Asian champion and World Championships silver medalist Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan. This will also be a rematch of last year’s World Championships quarterfinals, however, Nitu’s win came after the loss of two Indian boxers back-to-back. Sakshi lost to China’s Wu Yu by 0-5 and Manisha lost to France’s Amina Zidani by 1-4.

Read More-Nitu Ghanghas assures India their first medal at the World Boxing Championships

In the evening match, Nikhat Zareen defeated the title two-time World Championships bronze medalist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand. She dominated the game and won it by 5-2. In the semi-finals, Nikhat will face Colombian boxer and Rio Olympics bronze medalist Ingrit Valencia. Following Nikhat, Saweety (81kg) three-time Asian medalist dominated the 2018 World Championships bronze medalist Viktoria Kebikava of Belarus in her match. Showing her aggressiveness and domination she won the match 5-0. In her next match, she will be facing Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia.

India has improved their performance by securing four medals from the last World Championships event. Last edition India won three medals. Meanwhile, Indian players Jaismine Lamboria (60kg), as well as Nupur Sheoran (+81kg), lost their respective fights. The Prize money is INR 20 crores for the Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023. In this edition of the Women’s World Boxing Championships, a total of 324 boxers participated from 65 nations in 12 weight categories.

Read More-Women’s World Boxing Championships: Indian boxers who have won Gold