Sign In
By signing in or creating an account, you agree with Associated Broadcasting Company's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
By signing in or creating an account, you agree with Associated Broadcasting Company's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
New Delhi: Preeti Pawar shocked Olympic medallist and three-time world champion Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei at the World Boxing Cup Finals in Greater Noida on Tuesday.
Preeti (54kg) denied the reigning world champion any room to land punches to register an impressive 4-0 win while Arundhati Choudhary and Parveen Hooda made a winning return to the international scene with contrasting wins to enter their respective gold medal bouts.
Five other Indians - Minakshi Hooda (48kg), Nupur (+80kg), Ankush Phangal (80kg), Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) - also entered the final round in their corresponding weight categories.
"I knew she is a world champion, but to become a world champion, you must beat a world champion. That was my mindset going into the bout — that I have to give my 100 per cent and win in front of the home crowd," Preeti said.
Former world youth champion Arundhati returned to the ring after an 18-month break due to a wrist injury but didn't look rusty on way to a win over over World Cup medallist Germany's Leonie Muller in the 70kg semi-finals.
"I was nervous to begin with because my last international experience was a loss in the Paris (2024 Olympics) qualifiers before I underwent wrist surgery. But I told myself, ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for,’ and now I’m back," she said.
Parveen competed in her first international event since the 2023 Asian Games and registered a 3-2 victory over Poland’s world silver medallist Rygielska Aneta Elżbieta in the 60kg category.
A World Championship bronze medallist, Parveen had served a 12-month ban for three whereabouts failures during her time away.
"I didn’t just win the bout, I won back my confidence. She is a world silver medallist, so there was pressure. I had no support and it was hard for me,” Parveen said.
Reigning world champion Minakshi notched up a 5-0 victory over Korea's Bak Cho-rong while Ankush overwhelmed Australia’s Marlon Sevehon 5-0.
Nupur (+80kg) beat Ukraine’s Mariia Lovchynska 5-0 but Naveen Kumar (90kg) and Saweety (75kg) were beaten in semis to claim bronze medals.
Naveen went down 0-5 to England’s Okoh Isaac wile Saweety was comprehensively beaten by Australia’s Emma Sue Greentree.
