Nikhat, Manju Rani ease into quarters at 6th Elite Women's National Boxing C'ships

World Championships medallists Nikhat Zareen and Manju Rani registered thumping 5-0 victories to enter the quarter-finals of the 6th Elite Women's National Boxing Championships in Bhopal on Thursday.

The reigning world champion Nikhat, representing Telangana, thrashed Meghalaya's Eva Waynie Marbaniang in the 50kg pre-quarterfinals bout, whereas Railways Sports Promotion Board's (RSPB) Manju Rani also produced an equally dominating performance to defeat Uttarakhand's Kavita comprehensively in the 48kg Last-16 contest. Manju Rani won the silver medal in the 2019 World Championships.

Meanwhile, another RSPB boxer Jyoti Gulia, the 2017 youth world champion, also progressed into the 52kg Last-8 after beating Jharkhand's Neha Tantubai by a unanimous decision.

Chandigarh's Simran (48kg) and M Dhivya of Tamil Nadu (54kg) were among the other pugilists to emerge victorious and advance to quarter-finals on the third day of the competition, wherein 302 boxers have been competing across 12 weight categories.

While Simran outpunched Ritu Rao of Odisha by the Referee Stopped the Contest verdict, Dhivya got the better of Arunachal Pradesh's Muni Leya by 5-0.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) of Assam will be among others to play their Last-16 matches on Friday while the quarter-finals will take place on Saturday.