Minakshi assures 4th medal for India

Liverpool: Minakshi Hooda assured India of its fourth medal in the ongoing World Boxing Championships as she entered the semifinals even as the men’s campaign ended without a podium finish for the first time in 12 years following Jadumani Singh Mandengbam’s quarterfinal loss here on Friday.

The lanky Minakshi, competing in the non Olympic 48kg category, outclassed U-19 world champion Alice Pumphrey of England by unanimous decision in the quarterfinal.

Preferring to box on the backfoot, she made optimum use of her long reach to dominate from the outset, landing straight shots at will while counter-attacking effectively.

She will face 2023 silver medallist Lutsaikhany Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the semifinals.

With her win, Minakshi joined Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), Pooja Rani (80kg) and Nupur Sheoran (+80kg) in assuring medals for India.

The tenacious Jadumani Singh tested reigning world champion Sanzhar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan to the hilt before bowing out with a 0-4 split verdict in a fast-paced men’s 50kg quarterfinal.

With his exit, India’s 10-member men’s squad finished without a medal for the first time since the 2013 edition.

The disappointing campaign comes on the back of 2023’s high in Tashkent, where India returned with three bronze medals through Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and Nishant Dev (71kg).

In the final round, Jadumani came all guns blazing, connecting some sharp right hooks, but by then Tashkenbay had done enough to secure his place in the semifinals.

Later in the day, Jaismine and Nupur will try to seal a spot in the gold medal match later in the day when they take the rink for their respective semifinals. In the women’s 57kg weight category, Jaismine will be up against Paris Olympian Omailyn Carolina Alcala Cegovia of Venezuela while Nupur will take on Seyma Duztas of Turkey. Nupur and Duztas had also faced-off in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Cup Astana, with the Indian winning that bout 5:0.