Nikhat, Simranjit advance 6th Elite Women's national boxing championships

World champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur (60kg) began their campaign in the sixth Elite Women's National Boxing Championships with dominating wins here on Tuesday.

Telangana's Nikhat didn't break a sweat on way to defeating Tamil Nadu's LK Abinaya in a round-of-32 bout. The Commonwealth Games champion started fiercely, landing a flurry of punches with the referee stopping the contest (RSC) in the first round.

Nikhat will take on Meghalaya's Eva Marbaniang in the pre-quarterfinal on Thursday. Punjab's Simranjit was at her attacking best against Nilzaya Angmo of Ladakh in another round-of-32 contest.

Nilzaya tried to evade her opponent's heavy punches but in vain. The referee stopped the contest late in the first half. Simranjit will square off against Pooja Behra of Jharkhand in the pre-quarterfinal.

World Championships silver medallist in 2019, Manju Rani (48kg) blanked Priyanka Shirsale of Maharashtra in a one-sided affair. Manju, representing Railways, was the aggressor throughout the three rounds and consistently picked punches en route to victory. She will face Uttarakhand's Kavita in the round of 16.

Asian Championships gold medallist in 2022 Saweety Boora (81kg) of Haryana defeated Marthamaa Sattivada of Andhra Pradesh 5-0. She will be up against Chandan Choudhary of Rajasthan in the pre-quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), representing Assam, got a bye in the first round. She will face Puja Nayak of Orissa in the round of 16 on Friday. A total of 302 boxers across 12 weight categories are participating in the championships.