Liverpool, Sep 14 (IANS) Indian women boxers registered their best-ever performance outside the country on the global stage as Minakshi Hooda and Jaismine Lamboria bagged gold medals, while Nupur clinched silver and Pooja Rani took the bronze in the 2025 edition of the World Boxing Championship here on Sunday.
Jaismine opened India’s gold medal account with a thumping 4:1 victory over Paris Olympics silver medallist Julia Szeremeta of Poland in the women’s 57kg weight category, and Minakshi (women’s 48kg) completed the tally with an identical 4:1 win over Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan, a three-time world champion and Paris Olympics bronze medallist.
Despite playing in their first-ever world championships final, both Minakshi and Jaismine showed no jitters against their more illustrious opponents and were in complete control throughout the final.
Boxing Federation of India president Ajay Singh was understandably elated at the performance of the Indian boxers in Liverpool and said he was happy that the federation’s athlete-first policy was bringing the desired results.
“The performances in Liverpool, where our women boxers defeated some of the world’s best, underline that Indian boxing is on a decisive upward curve. In recent months, we have implemented athlete-first policies, and these results validate that approach. This success gives us the confidence to push ahead with further reforms and new initiatives to empower our athletes. These women boxers are our future Olympic champions,” he said.
Nupur (women’s 80+kg) also came within striking distance of a gold medal when she took the fight to Poland’s Agama Kaczmarska, a multiple-time European championships medallist. But the experienced Pole managed to do enough to eke out a 3:2 verdict at the end of the three rounds.
Meanwhile, Pooja Rani earned a bronze medal after she went down 1:4 against Emily Asquith of England in the women’s 80kg semifinal. At the inaugural World Championships under the newly formed World Boxing organisation, India’s women boxers registered a landmark performance.
–IANS
bsk/
