Fifth heaven: Nitu and Sakshi also move into the finals of the women’s youth boxing Worlds

Guwahati: Childhood friends Nitu (48 kg) and Sakshi (54 kg) on Saturday became India’s fourth and fifth representatives to move into the finals of the women’s youth boxing world championships. Nitu made a strong comeback in her bout in the second and third rounds to clinch the tie while Sakshi was at her dominant best, wrapping up another easy win by unanimous decision against Japan’s Sena Irie.

Anupama (81 kg), who was already assured of a medal before the tournament started, lost by unanimous decision against Russia’s Anastasiia Ryback.

Nitu became the fourth Indian to move into the finals after winning her 48-kg bout against China’s Yuan Nie by split decision. Both boxers adopted a conservative approach to the game and seldom opened their guard. After an average first round, the Indian turned the bout in her favour, landing some solid jabs on Nie’s head and body in the closing stages of the first round.

Nie and Nitu maintained a safe distance from each other in the first, which witnessed three minutes of attritional boxing. The bout came to life in the second which saw Nitu move around a lot more and use her favoured left to good use, landing a couple of jabs on the Chinese. Nie also responded with couple of good straight 1-2s of her own.

The Chinese made left her guard completely open at the start of the third, which allowed Nitu to land a couple of clean punches on her opponent’s face. With that, Nitu edged ahead in the game, and also finished well, once again showing fists of fury with her left.

Dominant Sakshi continues winning run

There was no stopping Sakshi as she pumelled Japan’s Sena Irie to cruise to the final. It was only in the first round that the Japanese was in the contest. In what bore a familiar pattern to her previous bouts, the Bhiwani boxer was measuring her opponent and focussed on maintaining a strong guard.

Sakshi was sure she was stronger than her opponent and after dissecting Irie’s strengths and weaknesses, she grew in confidence and went in for the kill. She found the Japanese girl’s face and midriff with straight left jabs and hooks with greater success as the rounds progressed.

“The moment I knew I was stronger, I attacked relentlessly,” Sakshi told The Field after the game. And relentless she was, impressing with her footwork and while throwing a flurry of punches, which took the wind of Irie’s sails. The pattern continued, which resulted in the Japanese coaches throwing in the towel to stop the bout with 89 seconds still left on the clock in the round. Sakshi became the fifth Indian to reach the final.

Anupama outclassed by Ryback

Heavyweight pugilist Anupama had a bout to forget as she lost to Russia’s Anastasiia Ryback by unanimous decision. It was clear that the Indian had a task on her hands from the time the bell rang for the first time. Ryback was not only light on her feet, but showed fists of fury and a solid guard in defence.

Anupama’s limited footwork meant that she had to rely on her straight-punching to bail herself out of danger. Despite throwing a flurry of jabs, the Russian connected little in the first round. Anupama put in a better display in the first minute of the second quarter, showing improved technique. Ryback replied with aggressive counter-punching and ferocious 1-2-3s, which put her in the driver’s seat.

Results:

Lightfly: Nitu (IND) bt Yuan Nie (CHN) on points 4-1; Zhazira Urakbayeva (KAZ) on points 4-1. Bantam: Sakshi (IND) bt Sena Irie (JPN) coach throws in the towel 1 minute:31 seconds in 3rd round; Ivy-Jane Smith (ENG) bt Isamary Aquino (USA) on points 4-1.

Light: Aeji IM (KOR) bt Ella Boot (AUS) on a unanimous pts decision 5-0; Vittoria De Carlo (ITA) bt Zhansaya Baltabekova (KAZ)on a unanimous points decision 5-0.

Welter: Citialli Oritz (USA) bt Alina Popp (GER) on a unanimous points decision 5-0; Nataliya Sychugova (RUS) bt Canser Oltu (TUR) on points.

Light Heavy: Arailym Begdilda (KAZ) bt Yelyzaveta Sliusar (UKR) on points 5-0; Anastasiia Rybak (RUS) bt Anupama (IND) on a unanimous points decision 5-0.