Pooja inches closer to berth

Fighting for the lone Olympic berth for Asia in the 75kg division, boxer Pooja Rani pulled off a thumping win in the opening round of the World Championships in China on Saturday.

Updated on: May 12, 2012, 23:29:51 IST

PTI | By HT Correspondent, New Delhi

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Fighting for the lone Olympic berth for Asia in the 75kg division, boxer Pooja Rani pulled off a thumping win in the opening round of the World Championships in China on Saturday.

Pooja defeated American Claressa Maria Shields 27-10 to enter the second round where she will be up against sixth seed Savannah Marshall of England.

The Indian grabbed a 7-3 lead in the opening two minutes and added 20 more in the next three rounds to clinch the bout with ease.

Earlier, Mandakini Chanu (57kg) and Neetu Chahal (69kg) also advanced to the second round with easy wins. Mandakini and Neetu are competing in non-Olympic categories as only 51kg, 60kg and 75kg divisions have been picked for the London Games, where women's boxing will make its debut.

Mandakini comprehensively defeated Serbia's Bojana Ranic. Right from the moment the gong was sounded, Mandakini went on a relentless offensive against the Serbian who was taller and heftier.

At the end of round one, the score was 10-3 in favour of India and during the second round, Mandakini stunned Ranic twice and the referee gave the standing count on both occasions.

It proved one-sided. Finally the referee stopped the contest in the third round in favour of Mandakini.

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