AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships 2018: Sarita Devi, Manisha Moun and Sonia Progress

Manisha Moun in action against Christina Cruz of the US in their 54kg category preliminary round bout at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships 2018 in New Delhi (Pic: BFI).

A veteran and a debutant kept the home fans happy on Day 2 of the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi on November 16. L Sarita Devi, a former world champion, and debutant Manisha Moun progressed to the second round after overcoming tough opponents at the KD Jadhav Wrestling Arena of the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium Complex.

Sonia continued the good run for Indians by progressing into the pre-quarters on November 17, beating Doaa Toujani of Morocco 5-0 in her opening bout of the 57kg division.

Sarita, a medal hope for India, had to work hard against Diana Sandra Brugger of Switzerland in her opening round bout, though she eventually won by a 4-0 verdict (28-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28). In fact in the second round — the Indian’s best of the contest — Brugger was given a standing eight count by the referee after a punch from Sarita unsettled her.

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In the third round, Sarita showed signs of getting slow as fatigue crept in but dug into her experience to coast through to the pre-quarters. Sarita admitted after the bout that it was an unpredictable bout and she was having difficulty controlling Brugger.

“In the first round I was trying to observe her and find out how to go about the next two rounds. But she came attacking from the first round itself. I was finding it difficult to control her,” she said. “Under the new points system, you need to have a proper guard and combination of punches to fetch points. That was what I was doing. She got a standing count in the second round and in the third round I was trying to attack.”

Earlier, Moun scored a mini upset out-boxing Christina Cruz of the USA, a pre-championship medal favourite, to earn an unanimous 5-0 decision and enter the pre-quarterfinals in the 54kg category.

The 21-year-old began on an aggressive note against her accomplished opponent — the 36-year-old Cruz, who is a two-time World Championship bronze medallist.

The American made a comeback in the second round but Moun never went on the back foot, and charged back again to counter Cruz. After nailing the first two rounds, Moun kept her foot on the throttle and relentlessly pressured Cruz to earn the unanimous verdict 29-28, 30-27, 30-26, 30-26, 29-28.

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Moun, however, won’t have it easy and will face another tough opponent in the next round — reigning world champion Dina Zholaman of Kazakhstan, who beat Muzuki Hiruta of Japan 4-1.

Moun told reporters that she is not overawed by the stature of the opponents and the win against Cruz will inspire her to perform at a much higher level against the world champion. The Indian, in fact, had beaten Zholaman in a tournament in Poland in September.

“I am happy and proud of living up to expectations,” said Moun. “I have proved that I belong here. I am really confident of doing well in the Championships. I have beaten her (Zholaman) in Poland. She is a tough boxer but I can beat her."