Previous edition’s silver-medallist and second seed Sarjubala Devi (48kg) advanced to the quarterfinals along with Seema Poonia (+81kg) as India rounded off a reasonably good day at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, here on Monday.
Jolted by the ouster of Olympic berth hopefuls M. C. Mary Kom (51kg), L. Sarita Devi (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg), the Indian contingent had reason to celebrate after Sarjubala and Seema advanced in the non-Olympic categories.
Sarjubala, a former junior world champion, gave a perfect start to the day for India by pummelling Sri Lanka’s Erandi Kaluhath 3-0.
The tempo boxer from Manipur was not stretched much in the bout as Kaluhath looked intimidated from the very first round.
The 22-year-old kept a tight grip on the proceedings by unleashing accurately-placed jabs to be the judges’ unanimous choice. She will now face Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay, who defeated Sweden’s Lise Sandebjer 3-0.
Seema was equally dominant in her win over Azerbaijan’s Aynur Rzayeva, who was sluggish for most part of the bout and was hardly a match to the attacking Indian. Up next for Seema is China’s Shijin Wang, who got the better of Uzebekistan’s Guzal Ismatova.
However, the campaign of Pavitra (64kg) came to a halt after she went down to Australia’s Skye Nicolson.
The prestigious event is the final Olympic qualifying event for women boxers in three Olympic categories.
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