World Silver-medallist Sarjubala Devi (51kg) was among the four Indian boxers who assured themselves of medals after easy wins in the inaugural India Open Boxing Tournament for men and women in Delhi.
Manipur’s Sarjubala Devi advanced to the semis in the women’s competition of the USD 100,000 event.
Top seed Sarjubala assured India of their first medal of the day when she got past Kenya’s Christine Ongare 5-0. She was in an aggressive mode from the first ring of the bell.
Her hooks connected accurately and she backpeddled and thwarted Ongare’s attempts at counter-attack. In the end, judges had no hesitation in awarding the bout unanimously to the home favourite.
Entering the quarterfinals with an easy win was top seed and three-time Asian Medallist Shiva Thapa (60kg), who produced a calculative performance to defeat Bhutan’s Dorji Wangdi in his opening clash.
Shiva Thapa will face Uzbekistan’s Sherbek Rakhmatulloev.
The five-day tournament started from January 28. The national capital’s Thyagaraj Stadium will host the tournament with USD $1,00,000 as prize money. This tournament will be a qualifier for the Commonwealth Game trials