Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist Preeti Pawar on Tuesday added yet another feather to her cap, as she assured herself of a medal in the 54kg boxing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She bagged a commanding unanimous decision win against Northern Ireland’s Nicole Clyde.
Preeti, competing in blue, dominated the bout from start to finish, bagging a 5-0 win against Clyde to reach the semifinals and guarantee herself at least a bronze medal.
Despite giving away a height advantage to Clyde, who was in red, Preeti controlled the opening round with her sharp footwork, quick movement and accurate combinations.
Preeti broke through Clyde’s guard with sharp combinations, leaving her opponent struggling to cope with the former’s relentless pressure.
The judges’ scorecards reflected Preeti’s dominance, with four judges awarding her the round 10-9 and the fifth scoring it 10-8 in her favour.
Preeti carried the same intensity into the second round, continuing to show her superior speed, precision and ring awareness.
Preeti once again dominated the judges’ scorecards, receiving 10-9 from three judges and 10-8 from the other two to take firm control of the bout heading into the final round.
With the outcome already decided, Preeti remained composed in the final round, showing a wide variety of punches and excellent shot selection to complete a dominant unanimous-decision win.
This will be Preeti’s first CWG medal. She had won a bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Later, reigning Asian champion Priya, who claimed gold at the Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar this April, also booked her place in the semifinals by beating local favourite Niamh Mitchell of Scotland 4-1 in the women’s 60kg quarterfinals.
Having received a first-round bye, Priya bounced back well after losing the opening round.
Mitchell took the opening round 4-1 on the judges’ scorecards, but Priya hit back with greater aggression and cleaner punching to level the contest by winning the second round by the same 4-1 margin.
Former Asian champion and World Championships bronze medallist Parveen Hooda bowed out in the women’s 65kg quarterfinals after a narrow 3-2 split-decision defeat to England’s Sacha Hickey.
The Indian lost the opening two rounds on a majority of the scorecards before finishing well to take the final round, but it wasn’t enough to overturn the deficit.
Jadumani Singh bagged India’s third boxing medal of the day after beating Zambia’s Mwengo Mwale 5-0 by unanimous decision in the men’s 55kg quarterfinals.
Jadumani delivered a dominant display, winning on all five judges’ scorecards to bag a semifinal spot and guarantee India another boxing medal, with at least a bronze assured.
