Youth World Boxing Championships: India's Devika, Preeti cruise into quarters

New Delhi, November 21: Indian women boxers Devika Ghorpade and Preeti Dahiya posted emphatic victories to enter the quarter-finals while three others suffered defeats in the Last-16 stage on sixth day of the IBA Youth Men's and Women's World Boxing Championships 2022 in La Nucia, Spain.

The Pune-based pugilist, Devika made light work of Ireland's Margaret Lambe in the 52kg bout. 

Her impressive attacking display right from the word go eventually forced referees to stop the contest in the third round and declare Indian the winner by RSC verdict.

Preeti, who hails from Haryana, also put up an equally dominant show in the 57kg bout and hardly allowed her opponent Benedicta Maekinen of Finland to score any point before winning it comprehensively by unanimous decision.   

Meanwhile, it was heartbreak for Mahak Sharma (66kg), Sahil Chauhan (71kg) and Bharat Joon (92kg)--whose challenge ended with losses in their respective bouts.

 Mahak lost to Kazakhstan's Bakyt Seidish by 0-5 margin in the women's section while Sahil and Bharat were defeated by Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Erkinboev and England's Damar Thomas by 0-5 and 2-3 respectively in the men's category.

Seventh day of the prestigious tournament will see 10 Indians, including five women, fighting in the quarter-finals.

Kunjarani Devi Thongam (60kg), Lashu Yadav (70kg), Griviya Devi Huidrom (54kg), Ravina (63kg) and Bhawna Sharma (48kg) will play in the women's section whereas Vanshaj (63.5kg), Deepak (75kg), Mohit (86kg), Vishwanath Suresh (48kg) and Ashish (54kg) are the country's male pugilists to be in action.

 Semi-finals will take place on Wednesday while finals on Friday and Saturday.