Women's National Boxing Championships: Eight boxers from Railways advance to the semifinals

Eight boxers of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), led by Manju Rani (48kg) and Sonia Lather (57kg), reached the semi-finals of the 7th Elite Women's National Boxing Championships held at the GBU Indoor Stadium in Greater Noida.

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Apart from Manju and Sonia, Anamika (50kg), Jyoti (52kg), Shiksha (54kg), Anupama (70kg), Nandini (75kg), Nupur (81+kg) guaranteed medals for RSPB. In the 48kg bout, RSPB's Manju Rani dominated Delhi's Sanjana and the judges gave a 5-0 verdict. Manju will face Minakshi of All India Police (AIP) in the Women's National Boxing Championships semi-finals.

On the other hand, 2016 World Championships silver medalist Sonia Lather of RSPB set up a semi-final with Punjab's Mandeep Kaur after defeating Vinakshi Dhota of Himachal Pradesh 5-2. Meanwhile, Mandeep secured their place in the last four with a 4-1 win over AIP's Preeti.

In another match of Women's National Boxing Championships, Jaismine of the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) registered an RSC victory over Maharashtra's Poonam Kaithwas in the 60kg category and advances to the semi-finals. The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist will next face Himachal Pradesh's Menka Devi. Menka registered a 4-1 win over PS Girija of Tamil Nadu in the quarter-finals.

In the 63kg category, AIP's Sonu impressed the judges and won 5-2 against 2022 Senior National Championship winner Shashi Chopra. Sonu will face Uttar Pradesh's Rinky Sharma, who made it to the last four by defeating Himachal Pradesh's Muskan Rana 5-0.

Youth world champion Ankushita Boro registered a 5-0 win over RSPB's Anjali Tushir in the 66kg category. Boro's semi-final opponent, Deepika of Himachal Pradesh, also performed brilliantly against UP's Rekha, winning 5-0.

Haryana's Saweety Boora maintained her dominance in the 81 kg weight category. Facing Maharashtra's Saie Davkhar, the 2023 World Championships gold medalist dominated her opponent to such an extent that the referee had to stop the bout. In another 81kg bout, Assam's Bhagyabati Kachari overpowered her opponent Saitejaswini Maineni of Andhra Pradesh so much that the referee stopped the bout, setting up a semi-final clash for Kachari against Saweety.

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Over 300 boxers competing in 12 categories have participated in Women's National Boxing Championships organized by the Boxing Federation of India. The final is to be held on Wednesday.