Harpal Singh Bedi
New Delhi,20 March : Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and the Asian Championships bronze medallist Sakshi Choudhary came up with stellar performances as they thrashed their rivals by identical 5-0 verdicts . to move into the quarter finals of the 75 and 52kg categories respectively at the Rs 20 crore Mahindra IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here on Monday.
Another Indian pugilist Preeti lost her 52 kg bout narrowly and crashed out of the competition.
Lovlina made short work of Vanessa Ortiz of Mexico while Sakshi sent Asian Championships bronze medallist Zhazira Urakbayeva of Kazakhstan packing out of the championship .Preeti however was unlucky to have lost a close fight 3-4 to World Championships’ silver medallist Jitpong Jutamas of Thailand . Lovelina dominated the ring and controlled the bout through out. She never let Vanessa gain any upper hand in the fight.The Assam boxer was superior both in tactics and attack . Her rival tried to counter with few desperate punches but that did not have much impact on the Indian.
The Indian looked assured while her rival was tentative.Lovlina made her run around the ring and then let flurry of punches that flattened the spirit of Vanessa who virtually threw in the towel.
“I fought as per the plan and happy that tactics paid off well” said lovelina after the victory. “Vanessa fought well but i was able to control the bout. I attacked and did not let my rival any chance to gain the upper hand but I think I could have done much better and I will definitely improve in my next bout. As this is my first World Championships in the 75kg category, it is a bit tough as all other boxers have been playing in this category since before but I believe that I can do well,” Lovlina said after the match.
She will be up against the top-seed and the last World Championships’ bronze medallist Rady Gramane of Mozambique in the next round. Earlier Sakshi the 23-year-old pugilist from Haryana hardly put a foot wrong in her commanding 5-0 win against Zhazira Urakbayeva in the Last-16 contest. Utilising her reach to land relentless punches with both hands, Sakshi looked to be in complete control from the word go and prevailed in the first round. The two-time World Youth champion continued to dominate her Kazakh opponent in the next two rounds with her quick movement and smart attacking strategy to seal the victory comfortably by unanimous decision.
“The boxer from Kazakistan (Urakbayeva) was tough, so I thought that the fight scores may go up or down but after following the strategy of the coaches and BFI, I could play well and could further dominate the bout to win by 5-0. Moreover, the people that have come to cheer further motivated me to win. As it was my first time playing with her, me and my coach made our strategy by watching and analyzing the 7-8 videos of her previous tournaments. My confidence is growing as the bouts progress so through the vigor and the passion that I currently possess, I am definitely focused on clinching the gold,” Sakshi said after the match.
She will now square off against Wu Yu of China in the quarter-finals.
In between the Asian Championships bronze medallist Preeti (54kg) waged a grim against formidable rival and last World Championships’ silver medallist Jitpong Jutamas of Thailand before bowing out after the bout was reviewed. The 19-year-old Indian put up a strong fight but, despite her best efforts, could not replicate the result from her last bout where she had toppled the top-seed Perijoc Lacramiora of Romania.
The two-time Olympics medallist Li Qian of China and the five-time World Championships medallist Elif Guneri of Turkey also secured contrasting victories in the 75kg category. While Qian defeated Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chien-Yu with the Referee Stops the Contest (RSC) verdict in the opening round of the bout, Guneri had to fight hard before securing a close 4-1 victory against Viviane Pereira of Brazil.
Six Indians, including the reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Nitu Ghanghas (48kg), Manisha Moun (57kg), Jaismine Lamboriya (60kg), Shashi Chopra (63kg) and Manju Bamboriya (66kg), will compete in the pre-quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Olympics medallists Irma Testa (57kg) of Italy, Nesthy Petecio (57kg) of Philippines, Estelle Mossely (60kg) of France and Brazil’s Beatriz Iasmim Ferreira (60kg) will also be in action.