World Boxing Cup Astana gold medallist Jaismine Lamboria booked her quarterfinal spot in the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with a dominant win over two-time Olympian Brazil’s Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu in the women’s 57kg category.
Jaismine and Romeu had earlier faced off in the gold medal bout in Astana, and the Indian had prevailed after a close fight. But in Liverpool, Jaismine dominated all three rounds to bag a 5:0 verdict and is now just a win away from a world championship medal.
India has fielded a 20-member contingent at the inaugural World Championships being held under the aegis of the World Boxing, a recently formed international governing body for boxing, and is hoping for a good showing in both men's and women's events.
World Boxing Cup silver medallist Abhinash Jamwal also kept his campaign alive with a 5:0 win over Hugo Barron of Mexico in the men’s 65kg second round.However, it was the end of the road for Sakshi in the women’s 54kg weight category as she went down against Turkey’s Hatice Akbas 0:5 in the round of 16.
Even Sanamacha Chanu’s campaign in Liverpool came to an end with a 0:5 loss against Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova.Four Indian boxers will look to bag a quarterfinal berth later on Monday. Sachin (men’s 60kg) will face Biibars Zhexen of Kazakhstan, Sumit (men’s 75kg) will be up against Rami Kiwan of Bulgaria, Narender (men’s 90+ kg) will take on Diego Lenzi of Italy, while Neeraj Phogat has to overcome the challenge of local hope Sacha Hickey of England in the women’s 65kg category.
India’s Lakshya Chahar came up with a clinical performance to blank Hussein Iashaish of Jordan to reach the round of the 16 in the men’s 80kg category. Lakshya began the bout aggressively but the Jordanian managed to close the gap in the second round. However, the Indian stepped up in the third round to complete a dominant 5:0 win.