Liverpool: Jaismine Lamboria and Nupur Sheoran assured India of two medals at the ongoing World Boxing Championships, while two-time champion Nikhat Zareen bowed out in the quarterfinals here on Wednesday.
Nikhat's hopes of third consecutive medal ended as the 29-year-old went down 0-5 to two-time Olympic silver medallist Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkiye in the 51kg quarterfinals.
The bout was always expected to be a stiff challenge for Nikhat, who is returning from injury. Having sparred before the Paris Olympics, both the boxers were familiar with each other's style.
While Nikhat briefly landed a flurry of hooks, Cakiroglu controlled most of the contest with clean punches.
Nikhat rushed to claim the centre of the ring, but Cakiroglu confidently back pedalled, striking the Indian rather easily in the opening round.
There was a passage of play where Nikhat claimed the upper hand, as she hit a flurry of hooks. But the Turkish boxer, who had a point docked, soon regained momentum, landing sharp shots to claim her fourth World Championships medal.
But Nupur and Jaismine ensured there was something to cheer.
World Boxing Cup gold medallist Jaismine defeated Uzbekistan's Khumorabonu Mamajonovato to seal her place in the 57kg semifinals.
Jaismine made optimum use of her long reach to dominate the proceedings. The Indian controlled the bout from a distance, landing sharp straight jabs while defending smartly and evading punches to secure a comfortable 5-0 win.
With their victories, Jaismine and Nupur assured themselves of at least a bronze medal each.
Nupur starts with a win
Granddaughter of legendary boxer Hawa Singh, 26-year-old Nupur overcame a scrappy contest to beat Oltinoy Sotimboeva of Uzbekistan 4-1 in the +80kg event, which is a non-Olympic weight category and features just 10 boxers in the ongoing competition.
Nupur, who entered the competition directly in the quarterfinals owing to her gold medal finish at the World Cup in Kazakhstan, started brightly, landing a sharp combination early on.
The Uzbek responded with a straight jab, but frequent clinching disrupted the flow. Cleaner punching helped the Indian take the opening round on four of the five cards.
Sotimboeva, 20, refused to bow down in the second round, keeping the exchanges messy yet managing to sway two judges despite Nupur finishing the round with a flurry of shots.
Sotimboeva was docked a point for excessive holding in the final round while Nupur had a point deducted for using her head soon after, cancelling the advantage.
Though the closing stages saw more swinging than scoring, Nupur's ability to land cleaner punches proved decisive as she booked her spot in the semifinals, where she will meet Turkiye's Seyma Duztas.
On Tuesday night, Jadumani Singh (48kg) and Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) had progressed to the men's quarterfinals with comprehensive wins, while Jugnoo Ahlawat's (85kg) campaign ended in the opening round against Scotland's Robert McNulty.
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