National Women's Boxing Championships: Asian champion Pooja Rani, Jaismine advance to 2nd round

Hisar: Reigning Asian champion Pooja Rani (81kg) and the fast-rising Jaismine (60kg) were among the boxers who advanced to the second round with convincing wins in the Women’s National Championships in Hisar on Friday. Representing Haryana, Asian bronze-winner Jaismine comfortably beat Chhattisgarh’s Rajbala by the unanimous 5-0 verdict in her opening round, while defending champion Pwilao Basumatary of Assam out-punched Karnataka’s Theertha Lakshmi at the St Joseph’s International School. Also moving ahead was youth world champion Arundhati Chaudhary (70kg) after outclassing her Haryana rival Kiran in her bout. Chaudhary is representing Rajasthan. Rani, whose Tokyo Olympics campaign ended in the quarter-finals, too entered the second round, beating All India Police’s Pinki 5-0. Rani is representing Haryana in the event. Forty nine bouts were contested on day two of the event which features more than 320 pugilists from 36 states/union territories/boards from across the country. Gujarat’s Hardeek Kaur Gill (60kg) also put up a flawless display against Ladakh’s Rigzen Tsomo before winning the contest 5-0. Maharashtra pugilists also continued their good show as Laxmee Mehra outclassed Sikkim’s Sarmila Rai to win her 63kg opening round bout. Chandigarh’s Neema was another pugilist who was in top form in the 63kg category, beating Neha Kasnyal of Uttarakhand 4-1. Shruti Yadav of Madhya Pradesh defeated Chandigarh’s Anju in the opening round of 66kg category, winning by a comfortable margin of 5-0. The gold and silver medallists will earn themselves a place in the national coaching camp. The gold-winners stand a chance of making the world championship squad provided there are no trials in their weight categories.