The Railway Sports Promotion Board: The Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) is on track to walk away with six gold medals at the 7th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships held at the GBU Indoor Stadium.
In the semifinals held on Tuesday, Anamika (50kg), Jyoti (52kg), Shiksha (54kg), Sonia Lather (57kg), Nandini (75kg) and Nupur (81+kg) stormed into the final of the tournament.
Anamika, last year’s runner-up in the 50kg category, will take on Haryana’s Kalpana to improve her medal at the competition. In the semi-finals, Anamika got the better of Manipur’s Maibam Rosemary Chanu with a referee stopped contest (RSC) decision in the second round. While Kalpana decimated her opponent Ekta Saroj of Punjab 5-0.
In the 52kg bout, the referee had to yet again step in to stop the contest when Assam’s Bhupali Hazarika could not match Jyoti’s flurry of punches. Jyoti now faces Shvinder Kaur Sidhu in the summit clash after the All India Police (AIP) pugilist forced Maharashtra’s Simran Verma to abandon the bout in Round 3.
For 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) Menka Devi of Himachal Pradesh was no match as she marched on with 5-0 victory in the 60kg category. On the other hand, Simranjit Kaur Baath also scored 5-0 win to set up title clash with Jaismine.
In the 63kg category, AIP’s Sonu continued her run to the final after she scored 5-0 win over Uttar Pradesh’s Rinky Sharma. Sonu will take on Haryana’s Prachi whose fight against Telangana’s Niharika Gonella earned her a 5-0 verdict.
Ankushita Boro, the Youth World Champion, thundered her way into the 66kg final with 5-0 verdict over Himachal Pradesh’s Deepika. Services Sports Control Board’s Arundhati Choudhary will be waiting for Boro in the final clash after defeating Nagaland’s Sanju 5-0.
Assam’s Bhagyabati Kachari stood no match for Saweety Boora of Haryana in the 81kg weight category. Saweety, the 2023 World Championship gold medallist, faced little challenge from her opponent as she won 5-0. Saweety, last year’s gold medallist in the same category will look to retain her title when she clashed with Mizoram’s Lalfakmawii Ralte, who defeated AIP’s Sushma 4-1.
Defending Heavyweight champion Nupur, who had an easy 5-0 outing against Elura Borgohain, will be all prepared to repeat her last year’s performance against Haryana’s Ritikia. The Haryana boxer impressed the judges against Monika to enter the final.
The prestigious tournament, organized by the Boxing Federation of India, has witnessed the participation of more than 300 boxers competing in 12 categories.