Simranjeet to face Jaismine in final

Greater Noida, December 26

Tokyo Olympian Simranjeet Kaur cruised to the 60kg final of the women’s boxing National Championships, eking out a narrow win over Manisha Moun in the battle of the World Championships medallists here today.

The 28-year-old from Punjab, who won the bronze medal in the 2018 Worlds, registered a 4-3 split decision win in a fiery semifinal against the 2022 Worlds medallist Manisha of Haryana. Manisha has moved up a weight class.

“All my bouts were tough. I have treated every bout as a final. This bout was tough because she is also a Worlds medallist,” Simranjeet said.

She will face Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine Lamboria in the final. The 22-year-old, representing Services, notched a 5-0 win over Himachal Pradesh’s Menka Devi.

World Championships silver medallist Manju Rani made a semifinal exit, going down to Minakshi by a unanimous verdict in the 48kg.

Another Worlds silver medallist, Raliways’ Sonia Lather, moved to the final with a 4-1 win over Punjab’s Mandeep Kaur in the 57kg last-four match.

World champion Saweety Boora (81kg) and two-time Asian Championships gold medallist Pooja Rani (75kg) registered facile wins in their respective semifinals.