New Delhi: Indian boxer Preeti defied all odds to defeat 2022 World Championships silver medalist Lacarmiora Perijok in a thrilling contest, while Neetu Ghanghas and Manju Bamboria also fought back as the Mahindra IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship continued at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here. In the Championship 2023, he achieved a great victory on Saturday.
Heavyweight boxer Preeti (54kg), who won a bronze medal in the 2022 Asian Championships, registered her second win in this tournament. He defeated Perijok of Romania 4-3 after the review. The boxer from Haryana started strongly in the first round, surprising her opponent.
However, after a cautious start, Perizok came back brilliantly in the second round to make the contest a thriller. After this, Preeti’s technical ability and strong belief helped her overcome her opponent and she won a resounding victory. The Indian boxer will now face Thailand’s Jutmas Jitpong, another silver medalist from last year’s World Championship, in the last-16.
At the same time, in the 48kg category, 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Neetu Ghanghas won through RSC in the first round itself. She easily defeated Kang Do-yeon of South Korea. The 22-year-old boxer’s attacking power proved to be too strong against the Korean boxer. From the very beginning, Neetu did not give a single chance to her opponent to settle down.
Neetu was relentless in her attacks and refused to let up, as a result of which the referee stopped the bout in the first round, handing the Indian her first win of the tournament. Neetu will now face Tajikistan’s Sumaiya Kosimova in the next round.
After Preethi and Neetu’s victories, Manju (66kg) also won her bout against New Zealand’s Kara Wharreu by unanimous decision. With their victory, the Indian boxers ensured a clean sweep for the host nation on the third day of the tournament. Manju will now face top seed Navbakhor Khamidova of Uzbekistan in her next bout.
Meanwhile, 2022 African champion Imane Khalif of Algeria easily defeated Asiko Freja Anyango of Kenya. He registered a stunning victory in the 66kg category after the referee stopped the fight in the first round.
Among the Indians, reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen will take on Algeria’s Roumessa Boualam in a 50kg bout on Sunday, while 2022 World Championships bronze-medallist Manisha Moun (57kg) will also begin her campaign on the same day.
Other bouts on Sunday include 2019 world champion Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines, 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Tsukimi Namiki of Japan, 2022 World Championships silver medalist Irma Testa, 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medalist Ingrid Valencia of Colombia and 2022 World Championships bronze medalist pair of boxers Carolina de Almeida and Kazakh Karina Ibragimova will also be seen in action.
324 boxers including multiple Olympic medalists from 65 countries are participating in the World Women’s Boxing Championships 2023. These boxers are presenting their challenge in 12 different weight categories. The tournament has a huge prize pool of INR 20 crores.
–IANS
