Lovlina, Parveen, Saweety and Alfiya punch gold

In one of the remarkable performances by Indian women in the continental event, Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Parveen Hooda (63kg), Saweety Boora (81kg) and Alfiya Pathan (+81kg) won their respective finals to claim maiden titles in the Asian boxing championships in Amman on Friday.

Minakshi lost to 2017 World youth bronze medallist Japanese Rinka Kinoshita 4-1 in the 52kg final to take the silver medal. Preeti (57kg) and Ankushita Boro (66kg) got bronze.

Competing in her first international event after switching to 75kg for the Paris Olympics, Tokyo silver medallist Lovlina outsmarted Uzbek Shokhiba Ruzmetova — a 2021 Asian silver medallist in 81kg — with a 5-0 verdict.

Lovlina moved well and boxed from a distance to land punches through counterattacks. She continued her good work even as Shokhiba showed more aggression.

World championships bronze medallist Parveen relied on her excellent footwork to beat Japanese Mai Kito 5-0. Using her long reach, Parveen executed her well-directed hooks and uppercuts to maintain an upperhand.

Former Worlds silver medallist Saweety unleashed a higher volume of punches to post a 5-0 win over well-built Kazakh boxer Gulsaya Yerzhan.

Alfiya, the 2021 World youth champion, was declared the winner as local favourite Islam Husaili, who got two standing counts, was disqualified in the first round for biting the Indian’s right shoulder.

The results (finals): Women: 52kg: Minakshi lost to Rinka Kinoshita (Jpn) 4-1; 63kg: Parveen Hooda bt Mai Kito (Jpn) 5-0; 75kg: Lovlina Borgohain bt Sokhiba Ruzmetova (Uzb) 5-0; 81kg: Saweety Boora bt Gulsaya Yerzhan (Kaz) 5-0; +81kg: Alfiya Pathan bt Islam Husaili (Jor) DSQ-R1.