Nitu and Saweety win gold medals at IBA World Boxing Championships
Storyline history, Indian boxers Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora were crowned world champions for the first time after recording contrasting victories in the Mahindra IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship final at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here on Saturday.
While 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Nitu (48kg) defeated Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Mongolia 5-0 to clinch her first World Championships medal, three-time Asian medalist Saweety (81kg) had to work hard to secure a 4-3 win on points after the fight was re-watched against Wang Lina of China to earn her second medal at worlds.
Maintaining her scorching form, Nitu (48kg) used her attacking close range supremacy and smart moves to shine a light on two-time Asian bronze medalist Lutsaikhan. The 22-year-old pugilist from Bhiwani started the fight with energy as he landed a quick flurry of punches on the Mongol and displayed a brilliant combination of relentless attack and relentless defense to seal the unanimous decision victory.
“I’m very happy after winning the gold medal. I failed in my quest for gold last year so we worked through the mistakes and won it this time around in front of home support. After talking to my coaches yesterday, I decided to be aggressive in the first lap today to get the scores in my favour. I have worked hard for many years and this medal means a lot to me,” Nitu said after his fight.
Competing in her second World Championships final, Saweety took on a tough challenge against 2018 World Champion Wang Lina. However, the Indian used her great technical ability and strength throughout the fight to impressively dominate her opponent in the hotly contested bout.
“I am delighted to have achieved my dream of becoming world champion. The fight went well and I was able to execute our planning perfectly. My performance in the tournament improved as the fights progressed with my body responding well as well. I want to thank the fans for their constant love and support,” Saweety said after the fight.
The two pugilists received INR 82.7 lakhs ($100,000) each in prize money for being crowned world champions. In the 57 kg category, the Tokyo Olympic Games Bronze medalist Irma Testa of Italy also captured her first world championship gold as she edged Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan with a 5-0 win.
The Italian, who had to settle for silver in the previous edition of the tournament after a 1-4 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ting, gave everything to avoid a repeat of that result this time around. and got a memorable game. victory. After the historic triumphs of Nitu and Saweety, India’s quest for two more gold medals will continue on Sunday when reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain step into the ring. for their respective finals.
Nikhat (50kg) will face two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in a bid to win back-to-back World Championship gold medals while Lovlina (75kg) will face two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Caitlin Parker of Australia. The ongoing prestigious event sees the participation of 324 boxers, including several Olympic medalists, from 65 countries vying for titles in all 12 weight classes. The tournament has a huge prize pool of INR 20 crore.
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