Sonia, Pinki keep winning run alive, enter prequarterfinals
Indians have remained unbeaten in the opening five bouts
NEW DELHI: Bhiwani’s rise as India’s boxing powerhouse is well documented. From an obscure town in Haryana, it attracted worldwide fame in 2008 when three Indian boxers made it to quarter-finals of the Beijing Olympics. Vijender Singh went on to win bronze and boxing was embraced in the country like never before.
Since then Bhiwani has occupied a special place in Indian boxing. On Saturday, the Bhiwani touch could not be missed at the World Championships here as Sonia defeated Toujani Doaa of Morocco in featherweight (57 kg) by a unanimous 5-0 verdict to enter the pre-quarterfinals.
In 51kg flyweight category, Pinki Jangra, who had a first round bye, defeated Grigoryan Anush of Armenia by a split decision 4-1 to move into the last-16.
Sonia, hailing from Nimri village in Bhiwani, had her first boxing lessons there before she moved to Rohtak. The 21-year-old was selected in the squad over her namesake Sonia Lather, who won silver at the previous World Championships. The youngster has been giving a good account of herself this year and after India returned from the Asian Games, where Lather competed, without winning a single medal in the women’s category, the selectors decided to try out new faces. After the Asian Games, Sonia had defeated Lather in the Inter-Railways Championship which made the selection committee firm up their mind on her.
In front of a sizeable crowd cheering ‘India, India’, Sonia justified the faith showed in her by the selection panel. Showing good reflexes and footwork, Sonia kept an attacking Toujani at bay and scored on swift counter-attacks. At one point, the bout seemed more like a wrestling contest as Toujani tried to pull Sonia down several times but the Indian kept her focus and composure.
Whenever the opportunity presented itself, Sonia landed her punches with vengeance. But it was her defence that stood out as she was quick to evade Toujani’s flurry of punches.
“That’s my game. I play from a distance and score on counter-attacks. She was attacking from the word go but I was patient. I was gauging her and waited for my opportunity. The coaches told me not to get overawed by the occasion and stick to my game. I did just that. I am happy with the sup- port I got here,” said Sonia who was inspired to take up boxing after watching Kavita Chahal, the two-time world championships bronze medallist from her village Nimri.
Sonia began boxing in 2011 and won her first national gold in 2016. She recently won bronze at the 32nd Ahmet Comert Boxing Tournament in Turkey.
Sonia, who got a bye in the first round, will have a tough next round as she meets former world champion Stanimira Petrova of Bulgaria. Petrova defeated Rianna Rios of the US in a lopsided contest.
India’s chief coach Raffaele Bergamasco praised Sonia for winning in front of the home crowd. “It is very good to win her first bout for India at such a big stage. Mary Kom and Sarita Devi are experienced and they have been carrying India’s hopes for long. We want to see the youngsters come up now. Sonia doesn’t have a lot of power but has very good skills. We told her to focus. She is young and the excitement of playing at home can distract you.”