BHOPAL, 23 Dec: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain put up a dominating display to enter the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Boxing Championships, here on Friday.
Living up to the expectations, the Assam pugilist made light work of Puja Nayak from Odisha in the 75kg last-16 match. Lovlina’s relentless attack and powerful punches proved too strong for her opponent as the reigning Asian champion was declared the winner by Referee Stops the Contest (RSC) verdict after just a few minutes into the first round of the bout. Meanwhile, the 2016 world championships silver medallist Sonia Lather of Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) also made her way into the 57kg quarterfinals after she was given a walkover by Karnataka’s Divyani.
Tamil Nadu’s S Kalaivani was the other pugilist to secure a last-eight berth as she outperformed Swati Arya of Rajasthan by 5-0 margin in 48kg pre-quarterfinal contest. Rajasthan’s Arshi Khanam and Jhalak Tomar also produced dominating performances to progress to the quarterfinals with identical 5-0 wins in their respective matches. While Khanam beat Uttar Pradesh’s Ice Prajapati in the 54kg bout, Tomar (50kg) thrashed Assam’s Kampi Boro comfortably. For Haryana, Kalpana emerged victorious in the 50kg category by a 5-0 margin against Maharashtra’s Janhavi Waghmare.
Rajni Singh (48kg) and Rinky Kishore (50kg) were the boxers from Uttar Pradesh to progress into the quarterfinals. While Rajni beat Punjab’s Suvidha Bhagat 5-0 without breaking a sweat, Kishore claimed a RSC win against Kavitha Paravada of Andhra Pradesh. (PTI)