Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
The ugly spat between the Bulgarian coach and the judges notwithstanding, Indian boxers continued their domination of the ring with Sonia Chahal and experienced Pinki Jingra along with Simranjeet Kaur chalking out contrasting victories to move into the quarterfinal of the 10th AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships at the KD Jhadav Hall, IG Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Monday.
The three Indians joined the five other compatriots—M.C. Mary Kom, Manisha Moun, Lovlina Borgohain and Bhagbati Kachari and Seema Poonia—making it eight out of ten in the last eight stages of the championships.
Seema, who received a first-round bye in +81 class, got a direct quarterfinal entry with fewer boxers competing in the category.
Take a look at all the results from an excellent Day 5 of action in Delhi!!
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📸👉 https://t.co/EUT61YMG4F#WWCHs2018 #AIBAFamily #ChampsBornHere pic.twitter.com/vcGEC9WSHN— IBA (@IBA_Boxing) November 19, 2018
However Saweety Boora was not as lucky and became second Indian to make exit as she lost in the middleweight (75 kg) pre-quarterfinals to qualifier from Poland, Elzbieta Wojcik, who won a unanimous decision against the Indian. Saweety had received a bye in the first round.
It was the 57Kg bout which attracted the maximum attention as Sonia Chahal stunned former world champion Stanimira Petrova from Bulgaria in a 3:2 verdict.
Sonia adopted the open-guard and carefree style tactics which caught her fancied rival by surprise. the 21-year-old Haryana girl, battled it out throughout the nine minutes of bout.
The Indian who took her time in the first round, as she avoid frequent contacts with her experienced rival ,coming up with little jabs to the left and trying to look for an opening. The tactics paid off and she managed to land couple of right-lefts even though Petrova countered well.
The 2014 champion Petrova came back strongly in the second to unsettle the Indian somewhat, with her combination blows to the. But it was Sonia’s aggressive style in the 3rd that clinched the bout in her favoure. She used the last 30 seconds to pack a punch to her blows. In the end, the split decision (28-29, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, 28-29) favoured Sonia.
“I followed my coach’s instructions to study my opponent’s style. She was obviously very good and despite my open guard I had a good defence too. I knew I was lagging being on points in the second and I had to show my forceful intent, getting close to her and deliver the punches. I am happy, I could win the tough battle,” Sonia said after her win.
While Petrova raved and rented, abusing the judges calling the corrupt after her loss, Sonia played it down saying, “Sometimes we think we got points, but the judges know it better.”
In a fast-paced 51 kg bout Pinki Jangara overpowered European champion Ebonie Alice Jones(England) 5-0.
The result notwithstanding, it was not a one sided bout as Alice Jones forced her rival on the back foot straightaway. Opening with left jabs the Englishwoman traded combination punches but Pinki not only defended well but traded off some punches.
In the second, Pinki was on the offensive straightway , but Alice retaliated with equal ferocity. It was in the third a tiring Alice almost had the Indian cornered with little room to manoeuvre, but the Indian wriggled out to send some combination punches and a good right.
In the last 20 seconds, the aggressive Indian snuffed out the rival’s challenge to set up quarter finals clash with North Korean Mi Choi Pang.
“I knew I would win against her (Ebonie) because she was inexperienced. I took my time but I had good counters which helped me win the judges’ verdict,” Pinky said later
Asked about her next rival, the Indian said that she had watched her (Pang’s) Asian Games videos and was prepared for her. “I have watched her bouts and we will plan for tomorrow’s quarterfinals,” .
In the 64 Kg pre-quarters Simranjeet got yet another unanimous decision as she beat Megan Reid from Scotland. The debutant Punjab girl had an upper hand in all three rounds with an impressive display of attacking boxing.
“ I boxed as per plan, I was confident from the very start and felt no pressure throughout the bout”Simranjeet commented after her bout.