BOXING NATIONALS Kannur (Kerala), December 6 Last year’s World Championships silver medallist Sonia Chahal (57kg) and Cologne World Cup gold medallist Meenakumari Devi (54kg) confirmed their medals as they stormed into the semifinals of 4th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships here today. Sonia, who won the 57kg gold in 2016 and the bronze in 2017, had to fight hard against Himachal Pradesh’s Vinakshi on her way to a 3-2 win, while Meenakumari of All India Police got closer to defending her 54kg title with a dominant 5-0 win over Jharkhand’s Sabiha Khanam. Fresh from her gold medal winning feat at the 2019 World Police and Fire Games, Kavita Chahal (+81kg) moved a step closer to the podium finish when she landed a flurry of punches on Rajasthan’s Barbara Sampson to win her quarterfinal bout 5-0. Former youth world champion and Haryana pugilist Shashi Chopra (60kg) also put up an impressive show in her quarterfinal bout against Chandigarh’s Manju. She won 5-0. Ankushita Boro of Assam set the ring on fire with an assured display in 64kg that saw her dominate Mizoram’s Abisak Vanlalmawii. India Open champion Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) too was at her aggressive best against Telengana’s Saara Qureshi and the referee had to stop the contest in her favour in first round. While Rajasthan’s Lalita and Delhi’s Anjali progressed ahead in 69kg, Haryana’s Nupur (75kg) dominated Uttarakhand’s Neha Chauhan. India Open runner-up Vanlal Duati (51kg) registered a facile 5-0 win over Madhya Pradesh’s Deepa Kumari, while Chandigarh’s Ritu (57kg) blanked Delhi’s Jyoti 5-0 to move into the last-four. Punjab also had quite a few pugilists winning, with Parminder Kaur (81kg), Minakshi (48kg) and Mandeep Kaur Sandhu (57kg) all entering the semifinals. — PTI

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