Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s Niharika Gonella punched her way into the 70kg final as Indian boxers continued to set the ring ablaze at the AIBA Women’s Junior World Championships being held in Taipei.
Four other Indians Soniya (48kg), Savita (50kg), Mandeep Sandhu (52kg) and Sakshi (54kg) also entered the finals and stand a good chance to win the coveted medals.
Niharika began with a bang and landed a flurry of punches on Yue Yuan, her hapless opponent from China. The Hyderabad girl was clearly the better skilled of the two and went on the offensive.
The bout was 51 seconds into the second round and Niharika way ahead of Yuan when the referee decided to stop the contest and award a Technical Knockout to the Indian.
In other bouts, Soniya defeated Thailand’s Phunsang Chiranchaya 2-1; Savita got the better of Turkey’s Cumentor Ayten 3-0; Mandeep edged past French girl Wonyou Johanna 2-1 while Sakshi outpunched Thailand's Tintabthai Preeda-kamon via a Technical Knockout.
