Women's World Boxing: India's Jaismine Lamboria, Shashi Chopra advance

India's Jaismine Lamboria and Shashi Chopra produced power-packed performances to register impressive wins to progress to the next round of the Mahindra IBA Womens World Boxing Championships here on Friday, March 17. Jaismine, the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, was in her element as she started her campaign in style at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here on Friday, March 17.

One of India's most skilled young pugilists, Jaismine kicked off her campaign with a Referee Stopping the Contests (RSC) victory against Nyambega Beatrice Ambros of Tanzania in the 60kg Round of 32 bout. The 21-year-old boxer from Haryana started on the front foot with her attacking intent and landed a flurry of punches to have her opponent on the ropes within just twelve seconds before she was declared the winner in the first round.

Following one of the quickest victories of the tournament, Jaismine will face Samadova Mijgona of Tajikistan in the next round. Shashi also put up a dominating performance as she outpunched Mwangi Teresiah of Kenya 5-0 in the 63kg category. Being at her attacking best, the Indian proved to be too strong for her opponent as she utilized her deft jabs and stern defence to win the bout comfortably. She will take on the 2022 Asian Championships silver medallist Kito Mai of Japan in the Round of 16.

Meanwhile, in the 70kg category, Shruti Yadav went down fighting 0-5 against Zhou Pan of China. In what was a huge upset of the day, Wen Lu Yang of China vanquished the 2016 World Champion Alessia Mesiano of Italy, who also won bronze in the 2014 and 2022 editions, with a monumental victory by unanimous decision in the 60kg category. The Chinese pugilist, who recently won the silver medal at the 74th Strandja Memorial, showcased immense confidence and smart technique to overpower her opponent and advance to the Round of 16.

Two Indian pugilists Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Manju Bamboriya (66kg) will begin their campaign on Saturday. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Beatriz Soares of Brazil and last year's World Championships silver medallist Imane Khelif of Algeria will also be in action in the 66kg category.

The ongoing event has 324 boxers in the fray, including several Olympic medallists, from 65 countries fighting for titles in the 12 weight categories. The tournament has a massive prize pool of INR 20 crore.