IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship: Nikat, Manisha and Parveen have to go

Nikhat Jarin, Manisha Moon and Parveen Huda will fight hard to change the color of their medals as they enter the ring for the semifinals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Wednesday.

The three boxers have secured at least one bronze after their thrilling win in their respective quarter-finals on Monday.

“The performance has been satisfactory. The boxers performed very well although they could not convert it (win). But all of them have paid well. They gave their best in the ring, ”women’s head coach Bhaskar Bhat told PTI from Istanbul.

Nikhat (52kg) will be aiming to elevate his first medal from bronze to gold in the world event and is being paved by Caroline de Almeida of Brazil.

The 25-year-old, a former youth world champion, is having a great year winning gold at the prestigious Strandza Memorial Tournament in February.

He has dominated all his fights in the ongoing event and will be full of confidence.

“He has a lot of experience from the years he spent in the ring. We are trying to win using that year’s experience and he has been able to do it successfully so far, “Bhatt said.

The spotlight will also be on the young Parveen (63kg) who has shone in his debut appearance at the World Event, registering an impressive win.

His next opponent at the age of 22 will be Amy Broadhurst of Ireland, who won a bronze medal at the European Championships.

“Parveen is a good technical boxer who plays long range. But in the opponent-based ring we have to change his game a bit so that we can confuse the opponent. So far he has adapted very well, ”Bhatt said of the Haryana boxer.

Third boxer Manisha (57kg) is bidding to change the shadow of her medal.

The bronze medalist of the 2019 Asian Championships, who was eliminated in the quarter finals in the 2018 edition, is now one step ahead. He surpassed the technically superior opponent in the last eight stages to win his first world medal.

But his job will be cut as he faces Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and former European champion Irma Tester of Italy, who is a strong favorite to win the featherweight gold.

“Manisha puts a lot of energy into her long range fist. He uses all his strength to exhaust his opponents and has the power to dominate on the basis of punches and combinations, ”Bhatt said.

India’s best performance at the event came in 2006 when the country snatched eight medals, including four gold, one silver and three bronze.

In the last edition, four Indian boxers returned home with medals – Monju Rani won silver, while six-time champion MC Mary Kom won an unparalleled eighth world medal in the form of bronze.

Tokyo Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain, who has been eliminated from the second round this time, and Jamuna Boro also returned home with a bronze medal.

India has so far won 36 medals in 11 editions of the tournament, including nine gold, eight silver and 19 bronze, the third highest after Russia (60) and China (50).