Boxing World C'ships: Nitu Ghanghas crowned World Champion

New Delhi: Nitu Ghanghas won the first gold medal for India, on Saturday, at the ongoing Boxing World Championships in the 48 kg category as she beat Lutsaikhan Altansetseg of Mongolia here at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, New Delhi.

Taking on the two-time Asian Championships medalist in front of a packed crowd on the weekend, Nitu started her bout in a similar fashion as her previous ones.

In a battle of southpaws, Nitu won the first round against the Mongolian boxer after landing a few clean punches and finding gaps in her opponent's defence.

The second round was also went in Nitu's favour by a 3:2 margin, but it looked more like a brawl than a boxing match with the boxers also grappling each other. Nitu started the round with two straight jabs and kept finding gaps to win the round.

The final round was a show of good defense by Nitu as she defended her lead to clinch her maiden World Championships gold.

This was a redemption for Nitu, who had lost in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Championships to Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan.

Starting her campaign in the round of 32 with an RSC (Referee Stops Contest) against the Korean boxer Kang Do-Yeon who was unable to withstand the relentless punches for Nitu.

Following her first win with another RSC, Nitu took only 128 seconds to defeat Sumaiya Qosimova of Tajikistan in the pre-quarterfinals. It was pure domination from the CWG champion as she bombarded the Tajik boxer with her straight jabs and Referee had no other option than to stop the contest.

In the quarter-finals, it was a hattrick of RSCs as Nitu confirmed the first medal for India after defeating Madoka Wada of Japan.

After three RSC wins, Nitu was met with resistance in the semi-finals against Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan. Buoyed by the home support, Nitu made a fine comeback after losing the first round to her experienced opponent and avenged her defeat at the 2022 World Championships by winning 5:2.