Rohtak, Jan 5:
Asian Championship bronze medalist Seema Poonia of RSPB dumped young Niharika Gonella in a lop- sided affair to advance to the next stage of the Elite Women’s National Boxing Championship here today.
While Poonia defeated Gonella 5-0 after three rounds, 2004 World Championship gold medalist Aruna Mishra gave a walkover to Madhya Pradesh’s Upasana Pandey at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here.
Poonia started off the bout on an attacking note and put the burly Gonella on the backfoot. The Hyderabad-based boxer fought back to land her jabs from close range but Poonia’s strong hooks shook the Telangana lass.
Gonella persevered through the rounds and tried her best to take the fight to her opponent.
At the end of three rounds, Poonia notched up a comprehensive 5-0 victory to advance to the next round where she would face Uttar Pradesh’s Arpita Singh.
In a highly intense encounter, veteran boxer Bhagyabati Kachari of RSPB displayed her experience in the ring as she towered over Chandigarh’s Himani, asserting her dominance from the word go.
The initial phases of the first-round saw the RSPB boxer land vicious punches which left her opponent with no answers. Into the second round, the referee halted the contest twice before declaring Himani not fit to fight anymore.
RESULTS (Day 1)
Light Flyweight (45-48kg): R. Lalinmawii (MIZ) bt Uma Bauri (WB) – (5-0); Puja Ranpal (SKM) bt Manasa Mattaparthi (TEL) – (3-2)
Featherweight (54-57kg): Kamla Bisht (UTK) bt Sangeetha M (TN) – (RSC-1)
Lightweight (57-60kg): Priyanka Thakur (PUN) bt Charma Shachikant (D&D) – (RSC-1); Aradhana Patel (UP) bt Shiwani Kumar (JHA) – (5-0); Monika (HAR) bt Suparna Das (WB) – (RSC- 1)
Light Welterweight (60-64kg): Aarti Kama (GUJ) bt A. Manisha (AP) – (WO); Sohini (CHD) bt Poonam Kaithawas (MAH)– (5-0);) Anjali Machahary (ASM) bt Majjiga Mounika Yadav (TEL) – (RSC-1)
Welterweight (64-69kg): Nupur (HAR) bt Babita Bisht (UTK) – (5-0)
Middleweight (69-75kg): Upasana Pandey (MP) bt Aruna Mishra (JHK) – (WO); Alari Boro (ASM) bt Kumari J (TN) – (WO); Kavita Goyat (AIP)bt Renu (UP) – (5-0)
Middleweight (75-81kg): Laxmi Padaya (JHA) bt Saara Qureshi (TEL) – (RSC-1); Bhagyabati Kachari (RSPB) bt Himani (CHD) – (RSC-2)
Heavyweight (82kg): Jigyasa (MP) bt Sangeeta (UTK) – (5- 0); Arpita Singh (UP) B. Ravi Chandrika (AP)– (RSC-1); Seema Poonia (RSPB) bt Naganika Gonella (TEL) – (5-0). PTI
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