Commonwealth Games 2022:Boxers Nikhat, Nitu, Hussamuddin assure India of medals, Lovlina and Ashish lose

Three Indian pugilists, including Nikhat Zareen, advanced to the semifinals in their respective events after thrilling victories while Lovlina Borgohain and Ashish Kumar made a last-eight exit in the Commonwealth Games here on Wednesday. With their wins, Zareen (50kg), Nitu Ganghas (48kg) and Mohammed Hussamudin (57kg) assured India of three boxing medals. Olympic bronze medallist Borgohain, on the other hand, was out-punched by last edition's silver medallist Rosie Eccles of Wales.

Leading by a slight margin in the opening two rounds, the 24-year-old Borgohain went down via a 2-3 split decision in the light middleweight quarterfinal. The Welsh boxer was dominated in the last rounds and her intent won her the game.

Zareen, the reigning world champion, produced a dominating 5-0 unanimous decision win over Helen Jones of Wales in the light flyweight quarterfinals. Nikhat was too good for her opponent Helena Jones and she proved why she is the best in the world at the moment!

Hussamuddin defeated Tryagain Morning Ndevelo of Namibia in a 4-1 split verdict to advance to the semifinals of the men's 57kg and fetch his second consecutive CWG medal. The 28-year-old from Nizamabad had won a bronze in Gold Coast four years ago. Hussamuddin had to work hard for the win as it was a fiercely contested bout which could have gone either way.

Earlier in the day, Nitu kick-started the proceedings as she showed her ferocity to demolish Northern Ireland's Nicole Clyde in the women's 48kg category and assure India their first boxing medal at the ongoing Games. The 21-year-old from Dhanana in the Bhiwani district dominated the first two rounds against Clyde before the bout was abandoned with the outcome only going one way.

Making her CWG debut, Nitu had big shoes to fill in the weight category of the great MC Mary Kom, who injured herself during the selection trials held before the mega event. The Indian contingent had trained in Ireland before coming to Birmingham and that helped Nitu in the fight against Clyde.

In the final boxing bout, Ashish Kumar lost a close match which could have either way against Aaron Bowen of England. He lost by a split decision of 4:1. A highly entertaining bout was fought by both boxers with Ashish Kumar being on the unfortunate side.

India has three medals assured in boxing with more quarter-finals coming tomorrow. With Amit Panghal and Rohit Tokas being the major hopefuls for India.