World Boxing C'ships: Minakshi assures fourth medal for India with a dominant performance against Pumphrey

Liverpool, Sep 12 (IANS) World Boxing Cup Astana silver medallist Minakshi once again came up with a clinical performance to defeat youngster Alice Pumphrey of England in the women’s 48kg quarterfinals and assure India’s fourth medal in the World Boxing Championships 2025 in Liverpool on Friday.

The 24-year-old from Rohtak in Haryana used her long reach to dominate Pumphrey from the very first round and deserved the 5:0 verdict as she joined the likes of Nupur (women’s 80+kg), Jaismine Lamboria (women’s 57kg) and Pooja Rani (women’s 80kg) in the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament, thereby ensuring a podium finish.

India has fielded a 20-member contingent at the inaugural World Championships being held under the aegis of the World Boxing – a recently formed international governing body for boxing.

In the men’s 50kg category, Jadumani Singh Mandengbam needed to beat former world champion and two-time Asian champion Sanzhar Tashkenbay of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Indian, playing in his first world championships, took the fight to his much-experienced opponent but could not avoid a 0.4 loss.

Later in the day, Jaismine and Nupur will try to seal a spot in the gold medal match later in the day when they take the rink for their respective semifinals. In the women’s 57kg weight category, Jaismine will be up against Paris Olympian Omailyn Carolina Alcala Cegovia of Venezuela while Nupur will take on Seyma Duztas of Turkey. Nupur and Duztas had also faced-off in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Cup Astana, with the Indian winning that bout 5:0.

--IANS

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