New Delhi, 21 March:  Putting up yet another dominating display  Nikhat Zareen and Manisha Moun recorded facile wins to move into to the pre-quarters of the of the Mahindra IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.

This was  two days back on Sunday.Now hear what they say.

Medal contender , Nikhat toppled the top seed Boualam Roumaysa of Algeria with a 5-0 victory in the 50kg category. The reigning World Champion asserted her dominance over the Algerian from the get go and landed accurate, powerful punches to have the first round to her name.
 
The 26 year old maintained her momentum from the first round in scintillating fashion and kept her opponent at bay in the next two rounds as well to earn the win by unanimous decision.

 "My strategy today was to dominate a little from the first round itself as she (Roumaysa) is the top seed and had an advantage. I have never played against her before but I have seen her bouts previously. She is a fighter and she gets aggressive if one goes in close range with her so my strategy was to play from distance. There was some clinching from time to time but in the end I won so I am happy." said Nikhat after the win .

She will now take on Mexico’s Herrera Alvarez Fatima in what will be a rematch of last edition’s Round of 32 bout between the two .

World Championships bronze medallist Manisha (57kg) also recorded a 5-0 win by ousting Tina Rahimi of Australia and marking a successful day at the office for India. Starting out on the front foot, the 25 year old pugilist from Haryana was in cruise control throughout the bout and gave her opponent no chance to make a comeback.

“While we had planned the strategy for this bout beforehand, the coaches’ advise in between the bout helped me understand the opposition’s mindset, land my punches perfectly and conserve my energy. I am here to fight and feel great to carry the weight of the country on my shoulders. I would like to thank the amazing support from Indians which has been crucial in helping the women boxers reach the pre quarters,” said Manisha.

Following this victory, Manisha will be going head to head against Nur Elif Turhan of Turkey in the next round.

Meanwhile, the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia (50kg) of Colombia also began her campaign with a victory as she defeated Nziva Veronica Mbithe of Kenya with a Referee Stops Contest (RSC) verdict in the second round. The decorated Colombian hardly had to break a sweat in her bout and sealed the win by overpowering her opponent using her immense strength and vast experience.

Another Olympics medallist, Irma Testa of Italy got off to a winning start at the tournament as she got the better of Reyes Moreno Leilany Noshbet of Guatemala with a 4-1 win in the 57kg category. The top seeded Italian who clinched bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics did not face an easy challenge against her opponent but utilized her supreme technical ability to get the job done.

On Monday, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) along with Sakshi Chaudhary (52kg) and Preeti (54kg) will take to the ring for their pre-quarters bouts. While Lovlina will face Citalli Ortiz of Mexico, Sakshi and Preeti will square off against Urakbayeva Zhazira of Uzbekistan and Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand respectively.

The 2018 World Champion Li Qian of China (75kg) who also has two Olympics medals to her name will be playing her tournament opener on Monday as well.