Nikhat, Lovlina enter finals of Nationals Boxing Championships

The Tokyo Olympics medallist had a rough 2022, but a medal in the continental competition and now excelling in the domestic would help her find her confidence back.

Defending Champions Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) dominated the proceedings as eight of their boxers, led by 2019 World Championships silver medallist Manju Rani (48kg) and 2017 World Youth Champion Jyoti Gulia (52kg) stormed into the finals of 6th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championship in Bhopal on Sunday.

Manju Rani continued her great form and showed great composure against Madhya Pradesh’s Anjali Sharma in a one-sided bout. Manju played from long range and convincingly won the bout 5-0. She will take on S Kalaivani of Tamil Nadu in the final tomorrow.

Jyoti Gulia faced a tough challenge from Uttar Pradesh’s Sonia as she started on the backfoot and took some time to gauge her opponent’s strategy. Jyoti bounced back in the last two rounds, played from close distance and landed regular punches to secure a 4-1 verdict in her favour. She will square off against SSCB’s Sakshi in the final.

The other 6 Railways boxers who moved into the finals are Anupama (50 kg), Shikhsa (54kg), Poonam (60 kg), Shashi (63 kg), Anupama (81 kg) and Nupur (81+kg).

Reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), who is representing Telangana, comfortably won 5-0 against AIP’s Shvinder Kaur. Nikhat will take on Anamika for the coveted yellow metal.

Assam’s Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) too had an easy outing against Madhya Pradesh’s Jigyasa Rajput as she dictated the terms throughout the bout and won by unanimous decision to advance to the finals. The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina will be up against 2021 World Youth Champion Arundhati Choudhary of SSCB in the gold medal bout.

2021 World Championships bronze medallist Manisha (57 kg) defeated RSPB’s Sonia Lather 4-1 in a close bout that saw both the boxers go neck and neck but Haryana’s Manisha prevailed in the end. She will fight against Vinakshi of Himachal Pradesh in the final.

World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60 kg) got the better of AIP’s Kros Hmangaihsangi and comfortably won by a 5-0 unanimous verdict. She will take on RSPB’s Poonam in the summit clash.

The on-going prestigious event has been witnessing participation of 302 boxers, competing across 12 weight categories. The finals will be played on Monday.