Manju Rani enters semis of World Women's Boxing Championships, assured of medal
Manju Rani on Thursday assured India of their second medal at the ongoing World Boxing Championships after stunning top seed Kim Hyang Mi of North Korea to make it to the semi-finals in 48kg division.
Sixth-seeded Manju, playing her first World Championships, defeated Kim by a 4-1 verdict in their last-eight match. Kim had won bronze in the 2018 edition of the world championships that was held in New Delhi.
The judges' points at the end of the quarter-final bout stood 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 in Manju's favour.
Manju awaits the winner of the other quarterfinal between Bulgaria's Sevda Asenova and Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat.
In the evening session, Haryana-boxer Rani and Assam's Boro also entered the semifinals to be assured of their maiden world championship medals.
While Rani stunned top seed and last edition's bronze medallist Kim Hyang Mi of South Korea 4-1, Boro, an Assam Rifles employee, got the better of Germany's Ursula Gottlob by a similar margin after draining showdowns.
Earlier in the day, six-time world champion MC Mary Kom assured herself a record-extending eighth world medal by progressing to the semifinals of the ongoing event in Russia. She defeated Ingrit Valencia Victor of Colombia with a unanimous 5:0 verdict in her last-eight match of 51-kg weight category.
However, there was disappointment for Kavita Chahal who lost her quarterfinal bout to Belarus' Katsiaryna Kavaleva 1:4 in the +81 kg weight category.
