Women's National Boxing Championships 2022: Winning start for Nikhat, Simranjit and Saweety

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Bhopal, Dec 20: The first day of the 6th Elite Women's National Boxing Championships in Bhopal started on expected lines as the reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) won their opening bouts on Tuesday (December 20).

Telangana pugilist, Nikhat, was up against LK Abinaya of Tamil Nadu in the round-of-32 bout and she didn't break a sweat at all. She started fiercely and landed a lot of punches and as a result, the referee stopped the contest (RSC) in the first round. Nikhat will now face Meghalaya's Eva Marbaniang in the pre-quarterfinal on Thursday (December 22).

Simranjit outpunches her opponent

Simranjit, who is representing Punjab, was at her usual attacking best against Nilzaya Angmo of Ladakh in the round-of-32 bout. Nilzaya tried her best to evade her opponent's heavy blows but couldn't succeed. Towards the end of the first round, the referee stopped the contest and Simran moved to the next round. She will square off against Pooja Behra of Jharkhand in the pre-quarterfinal.

2019 World Championships silver medallist Manju Rani (48 kg) blanked Priyanka Shirsale of Maharashtra in a one-sided affair. Manju who is playing for the Railways' team was on the front foot throughout the three rounds and consistently picked punches en route to her victory. She will face Uttarakhand's Kavita in the round-of-16 bout.

Winning start for Saweety

2022 Asian Championships gold medallist Saweety Bora (81kg) of Haryana defeated Marthamaa Sattivada of Andhra Pradesh 5-0. She will be up against Chandan Choudhary of Rajasthan in the pre-quarterfinal tomorrow.

Lovlina to be in action on December 23

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), who is representing Assam got a bye in the first round. She will face Puja Nayak of Orissa in the round-of-16 bout on Friday.

A total of 302 boxers across 12 different weight categories are participating in the championships.