Nikhat, Minakshi, Lovlina seal easy wins

New Delhi: World Champion Minakshi, two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen, and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain kicked off their campaign with easy wins in the Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championships at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, on Monday.

This is the first time that the men’s and women’s National Championships are being held simultaneously at the same venue, and 600 boxers from across the country are participating in 10 weight categories each for men and women.

Nikhat (48-51kg), representing Telangana, blanked Nidhi of Chandigarh 5:0 while Minakshi (45-48kg) defeated Tamil Nadu’s V Lakshaya S Vijayan by an identical margin.

In the women’s 70-75kg category, Lovlina had little trouble in packing off Krisha Verma by an unanimous decision.

In the men’s events, Sagar (47-50kg) defeated Ashutosh 5:0 while Sumit (70-75kg) beat Arshpreet Singh by an identical margin. Young star Hitesh (65-70kg) also registered a dominating 5-0 win over Ankit.

In the 55-60kg weight category, Sachin registered a dominant 5:0 win over Tushar, while Ankush (50-55kg) defeated Suraj Bhan by an identical margin.

Earlier on Sunday, 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal of SSCB and Sagar of Haryana registered contrasting wins to advance in the Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championships.