Liverpool, England: Indian fighters endured a day of ups and downs at the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool. Several elite boxers moved on with strong performances, but there was also a big upset when Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain was knocked out early.
Indian fighters showed off their great skills on Friday. Nikhat Zareen (women’s 51kg) kept up her excellent run by beating Lozano Jennifer of the USA with a perfect 5-0 score. Her triumph showed that she wants to go far in the sport and gave India more momentum.
Narender (90+kg) fought hard against Ireland’s McDonagh Martin Christopher and won 4-1, which put him in the next round. Jaismine (57kg) also moved on easily, beating Hutarina Daria-Olha of Ukraine 5-0 with a masterful exhibition of boxing.
Sumit Kundu (men’s 75kg) and Neeraj Phogat (women’s 65kg) both won earlier on Friday. Sumit won a unanimous 5-0 match against Jordan’s Mohammad Alhussien. Neeraj, on the other hand, had a harder time and just beat Finland’s Krista Kovalainen 3-2.
But Saturday was a letdown for the Indian team. Lovlina Borgohain, who won a bronze medal in the women’s 75kg at the Tokyo Olympics, lost 0-5 to Turkey’s Busra Isildar in the second round and was out. Hitesh Gulia (men’s 70kg) again lost, even though he fought hard. He lost 1-4 to Finn Robert Bos of the Netherlands.
The “World Boxing” organization is in charge of these championships for the first time. There are 20 Indian boxers competing. The squad wants to capitalize on its recent good showings at the World Boxing Cup legs in Brazil and Kazakhstan.
India’s main results: Wins (moving on to the next round):
Nikhat Zareen won 5-0 over Lozano Jennifer (USA) in the women’s 51kg weight class.
Narender (men’s 90+kg) beat McDonagh Martin Christopher (Ireland) with a score of 4-1.
Jaismine beat Hutarina Daria-Olha from Ukraine in the women’s 57kg weight class. 5-0
Sumit Kundu won 5-0 over Mohammad Alhussien of Jordan in the men’s 75kg weight class.
Neeraj Phogat won 3-2 over Krista Kovalainen of Finland in the women’s 65kg weight class.
Losses (knocked out):
Lovlina Borgohain (women’s 75kg) lost to Busra Isildar (Turkey) by a score of 0-5.
Hitesh Gulia fell to Finn Robert Bos of the Netherlands 1-4 in the men’s 70kg division.