Lalenkawali,Pinky and Sonia cruise into the inter-zonal finals

Lalenkawli (Red) being declared the winner
against Pallavi Vijay Kharat (Blue)

Visakhapatnam, July 14: After reigning supreme at the “Golden Glove of Vojvodina” – an international youth women’s boxing tournament in Serbia, India’s reigning Junior World Boxing Champion Lalenkawali (48kg), continued her good run at the senior level as well. The 17 year old dynamo from Mizoram was in sublime form as she tore through the defence of Pallavi Vijay Kharat from the west zone in the semi-finals of the 4th Inter-Zonal Women’s National Boxing Championship at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Playing for the IABF ‘B’ team, Lalenkawali needed less than four minutes (two rounds) to get rid of Kharat. She was leading 9:2 when the referee stopped the contest and awarded the victory to her. The gold medal win at the Golden Glove of Vojvodina tournament in Serbia seems to have given the Mizo boxer an added advantage. She ousted Neetu, a 2012 Federation Cup silver medal winner, in the previous round in what was a brilliant display of precise and powerful attacking, and now seems all geared up to bag her first gold medal on the senior tour. “The quarter-final was a tough fight against Neetu, but this was an easy victory for me. I am happy with my current form and hope to carry it in the finals as well”, expressed the multiple junior nationals gold medallist. She will now take on Mamta of the West Zone in the finals of the light fly weight division.

Silver medallist at the 6th AsPublish Postian Women’s Boxing Championship Pinki Jangra (51kg) too, was in exceptional touch as she devoured G. Sujatha of the IABF ‘B’ team to make her place in the finals of the fly weight division. The 22 year old playing for the North Zone dominated proceeding from the get go, never allowing Sujatha to settle down in the game. She led from start to finish, finally winning the bout 16:8 on points. In the other half of the draw, National Games gold medallist Vanlal Duati, standing in for the North East Zone, defeated Shivnder Kaur of the IABF team. Both the boxers started off slow, but the experience of Duati saw her take the game away from Kaur. With some agile and crisp combinations the veteran boxer took a 3:1 lead after the second round. She finally went on to set up the summit clash with Pinki in the finals with a 9:4 win on points.

Another silver medal winner from the 6^th Asian Women’s Boxing Championship, Sonia Lather of the North Zone powered through to the Championships round with a comprehensive victory over Dorothy Lalchhanhimi from the North East Zone. The 20 year old beat the Mizo boxer 15:10 on points; in the finals she will take on Shivani Dahiya of the Central Zone.

The fourth edition of the Inter-Zonal Women’s National Boxing Championship that began on the 12 July 2012 (Thursday) featured 77 boxers from 11 teams vying for the coveted title of the ‘Inter Zonal Champion’. The tournament, a premier national boxing event, has a unique format that showcases the cream of Indian boxing from the domestic circuit. The 11 teams consist of six zones (North, South, East, West, North East and Centre) along with two IBF teams, hosts Andhra Pradesh and top two achievers from the 12th Senior National Championship (Haryana and Manipur).