Jaismine reaches World Championships quarters, Sanamacha and Sakshi exit

Liverpool, Sep 8 (PTI) Commonwealth Games bronze winner Jaismine Lamboria closed in on her maiden World Championships medal after storming into the quarterfinals, even as two other Indian boxers bowed out of the competition.

Competing in her third World Championships, Jaismine produced a clinical performance in the women's 57kg round of 16, out-punching Brazil's two-time Olympian Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu 5-0 late Sunday night.

The bout was a repeat of their gold medal clash at the Astana tournament in July, which Jaismine had edged narrowly.

Jaismine finished the opening round strongly with a late flurry of punches after a rather sedate start. In the second, Romeu was more aggressive pressing forward but the Indian responded smartly. Holding a significant height advantage, she used her reach to counter from distance. In the final round she landed clean scoring shots to seal the deal.

With the win, Jaismine is now just a win away from a World Championships medal. She will next face Asian Under-22 champion Khumorabonu Mamajonova of Uzbekistan.

In the men's draw, Abhinash Jamwal also progressed, moving into the 65kg round of 16 with a commanding 5-0 victory over Mexico's Hugo Barron.

But it was disappointment for Sanamacha Chanu (70kg) and Sakshi Chaudhary (54kg), who both exited in the round of 16.

Sanamacha went down to Kazakhstan's Natalya Bogdanova, while Sakshi was comprehensively beaten by Turkey's Hatice Akbas, the Paris Olympics silver medallist and two-time Worlds medallist.

Sakshi outplayed by Paris Olympics silver medallist ================================ Sakshi's inexperience was exposed against the technically superior Akbas, who struck cleanly and with authority throughout the contest on Monday.

The Indian's over-aggressive start backfired as she was docked two points in the opening round for punching after the referee had called for a break.

Lacking power in her shots, Sakshi struggled to impose herself and was trailing heavily on all cards. She did show flashes in the final round, finding her range and landing a solid blow on the bell, but the outcome was already sealed.

Later on Monday, Sachin (60kg) will face Biibars Zhexen of Kazakhstan, Sumit Kundu (75kg) will be up against Rami Kiwan of Bulgaria, Narender (90+kg) will take on Diego Lenzi of Italy, while Neeraj Phogat has to overcome the challenge of local hope Sacha Hickey of England in the women’s 65kg category. PTI APA ATK