Bhopal: National Games silver medallist Krishna Thapa of Madhya Pradesh defeated Rebecca Lalinmawii of Mizoram in the light fly weight division to move into the semis of the 12th Senior Women’s National Boxing Championship being held at Tatya Tope Stadium in Bhopal on Thursday.
However, the local girl was made to work hard as Rebecca, a silver medallist at the last year’s Nationals, turned out to be a tough opponent. Both the boxers were equally matched, Thapa though kept gaining crucial points owing to some hard hitting combinations and after two rounds she had a three points advantage. The Mizoram boxer tried hard to make a comeback, but the 20-year-old held onto the lead and won with a score of 19:15. She now takes on Jahnavi Gogoi of the Railways in the next round.
“It was a tough fight, Rebecca is a strong boxer, but I stuck to my strategy and it paid off in the end. I hope to carry on the good form in the semi-finals as well”, stated Krishna after her bout.
In stark contrast to Thapa’s bout, the other section of the draw in the light fly weight category witnessed Youth World Champion Sarjubala Devi of Manipur plunder A Punyavati of Andhra. It was hardly a competition as Sarjubala yet again dominated the bout with her speed and aggressive style of play. The National Games bronze medallist had no answer to the barrage of punches that Sarjubala threw at her. The 18-year-old slowed down in the third and the fourth round, but still managed to win 23:13 on points. In the semi-final she will go up against Mamta from Haryana.
Gold medallist at the 2008 Asian Championship Nagisetty Usha of the Railways also advanced to the round of four in the light weight division. The five time national champion beat Suman of AIP in a hard fought contest on points 19:14. In the semis, she will battle against Neetu Chahal of Haryana.
Neetu, a bronze medallist at the 2011 Asian Cup, beat Monica Saun of Punjab and avenged her first round defeat to Monica at the 2010 National Championships. The experienced boxer had a slender lead after the first two rounds of play. But in the penultimate round, Neetu put the pedal to the metal. With her swift combinations she stretched the advantage scoring 5 points and not allowing her opponent a single scoring opportunity. She went to beat the Monica with a score of 15:6.
Former world champion Jenny RL also made it to the semis of the welter weight class ousting Princy Joseph of Kerela. The 28-year-old veteran boxer was leading 10:2 in the third round when the referee decided to stop the bout and hand the victory to Jenny.
