It was a great day for Indian boxing as four boxers made their way into the finals of the Women’s World Championship. It was Nitu Ghanghas who started the day with a dominant win, followed by Nikat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain. Lastly Saweety Boora also did not disappoint and took another step towards the gold medal.
After three Referee stopped contests (RSC) wins, Nitu was very confident against the reigning Asian champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan. She had lost to her in the quarterfinals of the last edition. Hence Nitu was prepared and wanted to prove a point.
Both the boxers were extremely calm and composed under pressure but Nitu’s punched landed more accurately and hence she edged out a hard earned 5-2 win to progress to the finals of the World Championship.
Nitu shared that she trained her mind in such a way so that it does not get puzzled in the middle of the bout as it will be detrimental for her. She had the plans in place and worked accordingly. “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,” the youngster stated after winning the semifinals.
Next up, Nikhat Zareen’s smooth sailing campaign continued as the 50kg pugilist outpunched the veteran Ingrit Valencia from Colombia to win 5-0 and progress to the finals. She felt that this was her best performance as she gave her opponent no chance.
“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,” the 26-year-old stated.
Later Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) prevailed over 2018 World Champion Li Qian of China in a very tight bout. Lovlina picked up the first round whereas Li Qian claimed the second. However the 25-year-old was more decisive with her approach and claimed a 4-1 win after the bout was reviewed. Lovlina will now play Australia’s Caitlin Parker in the finals.
Lastly Saweety Boora (81kg) also matched her compatriots and defeated Australia Emma-Sue Greentree of Australia 4-3 after review as it was a very close battle but the experienced Indian somehow managed to have the last laugh. She will face 2018 World Champion Wang Lina of China in the final on Saturday.
