Reigning world champion Saweety Boora and
two-time Asian Championship gold medallist Pooja Rani entered pre-quarter
finals of the 7th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships on Saturday. They
sailed through the event with contrasting victories on the second day at the
GBU Indoor Stadium in Greater Noida.
Saweety countered a tough challenge from
Alfiya of the Railway Sports Promotion Board before achieving a 4-1 win in the
81kg match.
Tokyo Olympian Pooja took control over the
proceedings against Renu of Nagaland in a 75kg bout as she finished a
commanding 5-0 victory.
Apart from Saweety and Pooja, 2022 World
Championships bronze medallists Manisha Moun (60kg) and Saneh (70kg) were the
other boxers from Haryana to win and enter the Last-16 stage.
Railway Sports Promotion Board’s Nupur went
head to head against Himanshi Antil of Delhi in her 81+kg round-of-16 clash.
Nupur, demonstrating swift and
aggressive boxing, lost no time in securing the victory in the first round with
Referee Stopping the Contest or RSC verdict. Nupur will be seen against Monica
Sahun of Uttarakhand in the quarter-finals.
The event also witnessed power-packed
action from Uttar Pradesh boxers as four registered convincing wins in their
respective matches.
While Aprajita Mani (57kg) and Rinky
Sharma (63kg) defeated Maharashtra’s Aarya Bartakke (5-2) and Tamil Nadu’s V
Monisha (5-0) respectively, Rekha (66kg) and Deepika (75k) notched up RSC wins
against their respective rivals Pooja Biswas of Telangana and Odisha’s Sunita
Jena.
The ongoing prestigious tournament, held
by the Boxing Federation of India, has been witnessing the participation of over
300 boxers competing in 12 categories. Finals of the event will be played on
Wednesday.
NE Watch Desk
