IBA World Women Boxing: Nitu, Nikhat, Lovlina and Saweety storm into finals of IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.

Olympic medallists Testa and Beatriz also advance; finals to take place on Saturday and Sunday_

Prominent Indian pugilists Nitu Ghanghas, Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain and Saweety Boora produced monumental displays to reach the finals of the Mahindra IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship as the hosts dominated proceedings at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here on Thursday.

With three consecutive Referee Stops Contest (RSC) wins under her belt, Nitu (48kg) continued her remarkable run at the tournament against the reigning Asian champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan with a hard-earned 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed. Having suffered a defeated against the Kazakh in the quarter finals of the last World Championships, the 22-year-old Indian had a point to prove this time round.

Both pugilists were neck and neck in all three rounds and while Balkibekova kept Nitu throughout the bout, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion kept her cool to get the better of her opponent. The southpaw smartly landed accurate punches and showcased immense grit to reach the finals of the competition for the very first time.

Nitu will now take on the 2022 Asian Championships bronze medallist Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the final on Saturday.

Nikhat will now face the two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in the final on Sunday.

Later in the day, in what was a clash between two highly decorated pugilists, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina (75kg) reached her maiden World Championships final after ousting the 2018 World Champion Li Qian of China with a 4:1 victory on points after the bout was reviewed. The bout kept going back and forth with the Assam born pugilist grinding hard to prevail by 3:2 in the first round before her Chinese opponent made a comeback to win in the second by 2:3.

Lovlina will face the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Caitlin Parker of Australia in the final on Sunday.