Pinky, Sarita enter Asian Boxing semis

Pinki Jangra, Sonia Lather and Sarita Devi scored dominating victories to reach the semi-finals of their respective categories at the sixth Asian Women Boxing Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Wednesday.

Meena Rani was only Indian pugilist to end up on the losing side.

Competing in the 48 kg category, Pinki Jangra scored a convincing 17-8 win over Dina Ilyubayeva of Kazakhstan.

The bout was close in the first two round as the scores were level 2-2 and 5-5 after which the Indian played aggressively and took the score to 10-6 at the end of round three.

In the final round, it was an all assault by Pinki as she scored seven points while conceding just two. She will now meet Yujie Luo of China in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In the 54 kgs, Sonia routed her opponent Vidhushika Prabadhi Mohott from Sri Lanka 24-5. Her footwork and movements were sharp and she delivered telling blows on the Sri Lankan at will. She will take on Gulzhan Akimova of Kazakhstan in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In the 60 kgs which is an Olympic Games weight category, Sarita had her hands full while playing against Gulzhaina Ubbiniyazova of Kazakhstan.

Sarita attacked the Kazakh boxer with swift left right combinations by moving in at close range. At end of round 1 the score was 6:2 which increased to 12:5 by end of round 2 and 16:8 by round 3 and finished the bout at 23-11. She now meets Chen Dong of China.

In the 64 kgs, Meena Rani lost a close bout to Uyanga Erdenesoyol of Mongolia 11-13.

In the quarter-final bouts on Thursday, Mary Kom will meet Nandinsetseg Myagmardul of Mongolia while in the 57 kgs, Mandakini Chanu will play against Kil Ok Kim of PRK.

In the 69 kgs, Monica Saun will meet Moldir Bazarbayeva of Kazakhstan while in the 75 kgs, Pooja Rani will play against Undram Erdenesoyol of Mongolia.