National Boxing Championships: Nikhat easees into quarterfinals

Nikhat Zareen recorded a thumping 5-0 victory to make it to the quarterfinals of the 6th Elite Women's National Boxing Championships

Hyderabad: Reigning World Championships from Telangana Nikhat Zareen recorded a thumping 5-0 victory to make it to the quarterfinals of the 6th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships in Bhopal on Thursday.

Nikhat, representing Telangana, thrashed Meghalaya’s Eva Waynie Marbaniang in the 50kg pre-quarterfinals bout, while Railways boxer Manju Rani also produced an equally dominating performance to defeat Uttarakhand’s Kavita comprehensively in the 48kg last-16 contest. Manju had won a silver medal in the 2019 World Championships.

Another Railways boxer Jyoti Gulia, the 2017 youth world champion, also advanced to the 52kg quarterfinals after beating Jharkhand’s Neha Tantubai by unanimous decision. Chandigarh’s Simran (48kg) and M Dhivya of Tamil Nadu (54kg) were among the other pugilists to emerge victorious and advance to quarterfinals on the third day of the competition.

While Simran out-punched A Ritu Rao of Odisha by Referee Stops the Contest (RSC) verdict, Dhivya got the better of Arunachal Pradesh’s Muni Leya by 5-0. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) of Assam will be among others to feature in their last-16 bouts on Friday.

More than 300 boxers have been competing in the tournament across 12 weight categories.