Nikhat, Manju Rani ease into quarters

Bhopal: World Championships medallists Nikhat Zareen and Manju Rani registered thumping 5-0 victories to enter the quarter-finals of the 6th Elite Womens National Boxing Championships here on Thursday.

The reigning world champion Nikhat, representing Telangana, thrashed Meghalaya's Eva Waynie Marbaniang in the 50kg pre-quarterfinals bout, whereas Railways Sports Promotion Board's (RSPB) Manju Rani also produced an equally dominating performance to defeat Uttarakhand's Kavita comprehensively in the 48kg Last-16 contest.

Manju Rani won the silver medal in the 2019 World Championships.

Meanwhile, another RSPB boxer Jyoti Gulia, the 2017 youth world champion, also progressed into the 52kg Last-8 after beating Jharkhand's Neha Tantubai by unanimous decision.

Chandigarh's Simran (48kg) and M Dhivya of Tamil Nadu (54kg) were among the other pugilists to emerge victorious and advance to quarter-finals on the third day of the competition, wherein 302 boxers have been competing across 12 weight categories.

While Simran outpunched A Ritu Rao of Odisha by Referee Stops the Contest verdict, Dhivya got the better of Arunachal Pradesh's Muni Leya by 5-0.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) of Assam will be among others to play their Last-16 matches on Friday while quarter-finals will take place on Saturday.