Garton boosts NZ medal tally with win

New Zealand boxer Troy Garton will return home with a medal after beating Botswana’s Aratwa Kasemang in the women’s 60kg quarterfinal at the Commonwealth Games yesterday afternoon. She just doesn’t know what colour her gong will be yet.

Her victory on the Gold Coast, thanks to a unanimous points decision, guarantees she will at least grab a bronze. She takes on Australia’s Swedish-born Anja Stridsman in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon.

The five judges scored Garton as the winner of all three rounds as she claimed a 5-0 victory over Kasemang. Garton, 30, hit the rangy Kasemang hard with upper cuts and hooks.

‘‘It means a lot,’’ Garton told NZN. ‘‘I’m that step closer to achieving what I would like to achieve, which is the gold medal. It’s been a tough ride to get here and I’m just overjoyed to have got this far.’’

‘‘I’ve fought a few Australians and they are always great, tough, gutsy opponents, so I’m looking forward to it,’’ Garton added.

Meanwhile, another New Zealand boxer, Tasmyn Benny, will leave the Gold Coast with a bronze medal. Benny lost her women’s 45-48kg semifinal fight against North Ireland’s Kristina O’Hara after the judges awarded the result to her opponent with an unanimous points decision.

The good news for Benny, 19, is that she is automatically gets a bronze as there are no bronzemedal matches in Games boxing. Benny was satisfied with the result.

‘‘I could’ve started off faster. I’m still working on my speed,’’ Benny told NZN. ‘‘I’m feeling more comfortable with it and learning from every fight. I took up boxing to keep fit for netball - it helps with footwork, balance and speed. Now I want to do well in boxing.’’

The judges ruled 30-27 in O’Hara’s favour. O’Hara dominated the first two rounds, using her right hand to good effect and landing shots on the Kiwi.

The brave Benny tried to establish dominance in the third and final round by moving forward to her opponent, but struggled to land enough clean shots to swing the result her way.

There was no such luck for Ryan Scaife in the men’s 75kg quarterfinal. The Kiwi lost 5-0 to Cameroon’s Dieudonne Ntsengue in an entertaining bout.

Despite landing a number of shots on Ntsengue, who show boated his way through the final round, Scaife was unable to land enough punches to convince judges he should advance through to the medal rounds.