IBA Women's World Boxing C'ship: Pooja storm into quarters; Lovlina beaten by Cindy

Pooja, who was playing her first international bout since Tokyo Olympics was aggressive right from the beginning and registered a commanding 5-0 victory to move to the next round.

Pooja Rani (left) after her victory against Hungary's Timea Nagy.

Two-time Asian champion Pooja Rani Bohra made a winning start to enter the quarterfinals, while Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain crashed out of the World women’s boxing championships in Istanbul on Friday.

Pooja posted a convincing 5-0 victory against experienced Hungarian boxer and former Worlds bronze medallist Timea Nagy in an 81kg pre-quarterfinal bout.

Lovlina was ousted by Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba, a promising Cameroon born United Kingdom boxer representing the Fair Chance Team as she does not have a British passport, with a 4-1 verdict in a 70kg round of 16 match.

Southpaw Pooja, also an Olympian, moved better to land punches on the giant Hungarian. Pooja did well to stay out of Timea’s reach and used her right-left combinations and right hooks to good effect.

When the Hungarian stepped up attack in the final round, Pooja scored through some counters while ensuring her safety.

READ: World Boxing C'ships: All you need to know about the Fair Chance Team

Pooja will meet two-time Australian National champion, Jessica Bagley, next.

Lovlina, a two-time Worlds bronze medallist, found the going tough against the compact Cindy. While the Indian used her long reach to execute the left jabs and combinations, her shorter opponent delivered solid straight punches to stay 4-1 ahead in the first round.

Cindy, who is a three-time National champion in England in three different weights, employed her jabs and combinations well against Lovlina’s counters to stay 3-2 up after the second round. She continued to land clean scoring shots to maintain her upper hand till the end.

Lovlina’s jabs, combinations and occasional upper cuts were not enough to get her the desired result.

The results (Indians unless specified): Pre-quarterfinals:

70kg: Lovlina Borgohain lost to Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba (FCT) 4-1; 81kg: Pooja Rani Bohra bt Timea Nagy (Hun) 5-0.