Hyderabad: State boxer Niharika Gonnella walked her way into the semifinals of the 70kg category to assure herself of at least a bronze while her sister Naganika entered the quarterfinals of the +80kg section on Tuesday as Indian boxers put up an impressive show in the preliminary rounds of the AIBA Women’s Junior World Championships being held in Taipei.
State girl Niharika and Soniya Sakshi (48kg) made the last-four stage in contrasting fashion while Savita (50kg), Mandeep Kaur (52kg), Nisha (60kg) and Naganika (+80kg) entered the quarterfinals of the event.
Naganika and Niharika train at the Sports Authority of India training facility in Visakhapatnam, under the guidance of Dronacharya awardee I. Venkateshwar Rao. The sisters shifted base to Visakhapatnam a year ago as there is no boxing academy in Hyderabad.
Sakshi defeated Kazakhstan’s Serikova Zhanna 3-0 in her quarterfinal bout, while Niharika was handed a bye in the medal round.
Likewise, Savita, Mandeep, Naganika and Nisha also got direct entry into the last-eight stage. Soniya, on the other hand, defeated Kazakhstan’s Abilkhan Sandugash 3-0 in her prequarterfinal bout. However, in the 57kg category, Ani Lama lost to Russia’s Vorontsova Liudmila, going down via Technical Knockout in the second round.
In 63kg category, Jony lost to Kazakhstan’s Kussainova Lyailya 0-3, while Shruti Yadav (66kg) was outpunched by Ireland’s Richards Joanne in similar fashion. In 75kg division, Nandini Thakur lost to Russia’s Shamonova Anastasiia in a Technical Knockout.
