Senior National Boxing: World champion Minakshi, Nikhat, Hitesh advance to Semifinals

Country's top boxers including world champion Minakshi Hooda, two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen, World Boxing Cup gold medallist Hitesh Gulia and others sailed into the semi-finals of the Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championships with easy wins at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida on Thursday with comfortable wins in their respective quarterfinal bouts.

This is the first time that the men and women National Championships are being held simultaneously at the same venue and 600 boxers from across the country are participating in 10 weight categories each for men and women.

Minakshi (women's 45-48kg) of All India Police defeated Kashish Mehta of Punjab 5:0 while Nikhat (48-51kg) blanked Manipur's Lanchenbee Chanu Tongbram by an identical

margin.

In the men's 65-70kg quarterfinals, Hitesh defeated Punjab's Tejaswi 5:0 to advance to the semifinals. World Boxing Cup Finals silver medallist Pawan Bartwal (men's 50-55kg), Jadumani Singh (50-55kg) and Sachin (55-60kg) all earned unanimous decisions in their semifinals bouts.

While Pawan defeated Tyson of Arunachal Pradesh, Jadumani defeated Punjab's Nikhil and Sachin beat Uttar Pradesh's Karan. In the women's 51-54kg quarterfinals, Preeti defeated Harmeet Kaur Virk of Punjab 5:0 while Sakshi got the better of Poonam of RSPB 4:1.

(An excerpt from Agency)