Women's World Boxing: Shiksha, Jaismine, Anamika progress to next round

ISTANBUL: Indian boxers Shiksha (54kg), Jaismine (60kg) and Anamika (50kg) showed their skills and maturity to advance to the pre-quarterfinals at the 12th edition of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Thursday.

Shiksha, who faced Argentina's Herrera Milagros Rosario displayed brilliant temperament and skillset to convincingly win by unanimous decision without breaking a sweat.

Shiksha will next take on Mongolia's Oyuntsetseg Yesugen in the pre-quarterfinals on Sunday.

Jaismine, who hails from Bhiwani faced a tough challenge from Thailand's two time Youth Asian Champion Porntip Buapa. The Indian boxer took some time to gauge her opponent's strategy in the first round before coming back strongly in the last two rounds to win by a 4-1 split verdict.

Jaismine will square off against Angela Harris of Australia in the round-of-16 bout on Sunday.

Anamika was up against Romania's Eugenia Anghel and the bout started on an aggressive note as both the boxers relentlessly attacked from the word go but Anamika displayed her sharp footwork and movement to land clear punches and evaded her opponent's punches.

The boxer from Rohtak didn't let her opponent settle down and dictated the terms throughout the whole bout enroute to a comfortable 5-0 win.

Anamika will next face World Championships bronze medallist, Kristy Lee Harris of Australia, in the round-of-16 bout on Sunday.

This year's event, which marks the 20th anniversary of the IBA Women's World Championships, will be played till May 20.

Two time Asian Champion Pooja Rani (81kg) and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (70kg) will play their respective round-of-16 bouts today.

Pooja, who will begin her World Championships campaign, will take on Hungary's Timea Nagy while Lovlina will fight against Cindy Ngamba of Fair Chance Team. Lovlina had defeated former world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the first round on Monday.

In the last edition of the tournament, held in Russia in 2019, Indian boxers secured one silver and three bronze medals.