Manju Rani of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) advanced to the 48kg semi-finals of the 5th Elite Women's National Boxing Championships with a decisive 5-0 win over Punjab's Minakshai on Monday, extending her great winning streak in the tournament. The boxers have begun to reveal their true mettle as the prestigious event, held by the Boxing Federation of India in partnership with the Haryana Boxing Sangh at the St Joseph's International School in Hisar, nears its conclusion.
Manju, who earned a silver medal on her debut at the 2019 World Championships, possessed incredible strength that caught her Punjabi opponent completely off guard, as she had no responses for Manju's accurate punches.
S Kalaivani of Tamil Nadu advanced to the semi-finals in the 48kg category after defeating Himachal Pradesh's Jyotika Bisht by an identical margin in the quarter-finals.
Another highlight of Day 5 was Assam's Jamuna Boro, who advanced to the last four in the 54kg category with a 5-0 victory over Uttarakhand's Gayatri Kasnyal.
Jamuna, who won bronze at the 2019 World Championships, was too swift for Gayatri, who frequently found herself on the wrong foot while attempting to avoid Jamuna's attacks.
Telangana's Nikhat Zareen, the 2019 Asian Championships bronze medalist, put up an excellent performance against Assam's Manju Basumatary in the 52kg category, winning 5-0 and advancing to the semi-finals.
In the 54kg event, RSPB's Shiksha outperformed the reigning youth world champion Babyrojisana Naorem of Manipur 5-0 to go to the semi-finals.
Punjab's Komal continued her strong performance in the 50kg division, reaching the semi-finals after defeating Maharashtra's Anjali Gupta 5-0.
The gold medalists and silver medalists will be invited to the national coaching camp. The remaining two names for each category's camp will be chosen based on their performances in the selection trials, which will take place immediately following the nationals.
