India’s women boxers bag four medals at World Championships | Boxing News
India’s women boxers lit up Liverpool with fire and fight, ending the World Boxing Championships with a tally of four medals — two gold, one silver and a bronze. That all medals came from the women’s contingent is a testament to the continiung rise of India’s female boxers. The final flourish came early on Sunday evening, when Minakshi Hooda, a wiry and fearless 24-year-old from Rohtak’s Rurki village, claimed the women’s 48 kg gold, defeating Kazakhstan’s seasoned campaigner Nazym Kyzaibay in a 4-1 split verdict. The contest was as tense as they come, but it also rewrote destiny. Minakshi avenged her painful loss to Kyzaibay in the World Boxing Cup final in Astana just three months ago. Minakshi was only emulating the feats of Jaismine Lamboria from an evening before. Jaismine Lamboria’s gold in 57 kg late on Saturday lit up India’s campaign in Liverpool. Nupur Sheoran’s silver in +80 kg, and Pooja Rani’s bronze in 80 kg completed India’s campaign in the working-class city made famous by the Beatles and Liverpool FC. For Minakshi, this wasn’t just a medal. It was the culmination of a journey that began in a corner of Haryana few had heard of. Rurki village, in Rohtak district, is where a frail 12-year-old wandered into a local academy run by coach Vijay Hooda back in 2013. Her father, Shri Krishan, an auto-rickshaw driver, struggled to make ends meet and the family initially had opposed her boxing dreams, worried about both finances and their daughter’s fragile physique. But Minakshi refused to bend. Hours of gruelling drills turned the timid schoolgirl into a fearless fighter. Sunday night in Liverpool, she fulfilled that promise, one jab at a time. If Minakshi’s win was about payback, Jaismine Lamboria’s gold medal on late Saturday night was stitched with determination. The 24-year-old from Bhiwani faced Julia Szeremeta of Poland in a contest that stretched nearly every nerve fibre. Minakshi’s bout against Kyzaibay, bronze medallist from the 2024 Paris Olympics, was painted with nervous energy. Both boxers knew each other’s arsenal too well. Minakshi started cautiously, aware that Kyzaibay thrives on early aggression. Using her excellent footwork, the Indian kept circling, pushing quick jabs through her guard. The Kazakh tried to close the distance, but Minakshi’s footwork kept her at bay, landing clean combinations to the head. Kyzaibay absorbed the pressure, but the judges saw Minakshi’s control, awarding her the round. The second round flipped the script. Kyzaibay, realizing she was trailing, turned to aggression. She slipped inside Minakshi’s guard, unleashing body shots that tested the Indian’s core. Minakshi fired back with counters, but Kyzaibay’s volume overwhelmed, her hooks finding their mark in close quarters. The crowd roared as the Kazakh evened the score, taking the round on most cards. With gold on the line, Minakshi summoned her reserves. She circled smartly, baiting Kyzaibay into overcommitting, then unleashing uppercuts that rocked her rival. A stunning right hook midway through staggered the Kazakh. In the final 30 seconds, Minakshi landed a clean one-two combination that sealed the deal. When the scores flashed 4-1 in her favour, her arms shot skyward. JAISMINE SETS MARKER The Polish boxer Julia Szeremeta carried reach and power, but, late on Saturday, Jaismine countered with relentless body movement and counterpunching. The opening round saw the Indian pegged back by Szeremeta’s long-range shots. But from Round Two, Jaismine tightened her guard and released fiery combinations to the midsection. Her jab-right cross combo had the Polish star wobbling momentarily. In the final round, Jaismine went for broke, matching Szeremeta punch for punch. After the closing bell, when the score read 4-1 for Jaismine, her arms shot up. The gold was hers. The medal that could so easily have been a golden hat-trick slipped narrowly away in the women’s +80 kg final, where Nupur Sheoran duelled with Poland’s Agata Kaczmarska in a bout that had the air of a heavyweight thriller. It ended 2-3 on split decision, agonizingly close, pushing Nupur to silver. In another bout, Pooja Rani had to bow out with a bronze after losing her 80kg semifinal 1-4 to Emily Asquith of England.
