Nitu, Sakshi in final

India had another fabulous day in the World youth women boxingchampionship on Saturday with two more home boxers entering the finals.

Haryana’s Nitu (48kg) and Sakshi Chaudhary (54kg) won their semifinal bouts to stay in contention for gold medals.

Jyoti Gulia (51kg), Shashi Chopra (57kg) and Ankushita Boro (64kg) had earlier made it to the title clashes.

Anupama (81kg), who had a direct semifinal entry, lost to a superior Anastasiia Rybak of Russia.

Nitu’s smart boxing helped her get past Yuan Nie with a 4-1 verdict. The bout was on an even keel after the first two rounds, as the two counter-punchers bid their time to find opportunities and deliver shots.

Boxing from a distance, the southpaw Indian changed her combination to gain a distinct advantage in the final round.

“It was a difficult bout. Since the Chinese boxer has a similar style as me, each of us waited for the other to attack. Being a southpaw was helpful as I carried out a different plan in the last round,” said Nitu, who will take on Zhazira Urakbayeva of Kazakhstan in the summit clash.

Sakshi outclassed Japanese Sena Irie as the bout was abandoned after 1.31 minutes in the third round. The 2015 World junior champion predominantly used her left jab as she assessed Sena and her early aggression.

In the last two rounds, Sakshi moved beautifully and used both her hands better to execute some fine counter-attacks. The contest was stopped when the Japanese seconds threw in the towel following Sakshi’s absolute domination over Sena.

“I took my time to get used to her style before stepping up my game,” said Sakshi, who will meet Ivy-Jane Smith of England in the final.

The results (semifinals): 48kg: Nitu bt Yuan Nie (Chn) 4-1, Zhazira Urakbayeva (Kaz) bt Caitlin Fryers (Irl) 4-1; 54kg: Sakshi Chaudhary bt Sena Irie (Jpn) ABD (R3), Ivy-Jane Smith (Eng) bt Isamary Aquino (USA) 4-1; 60kg: Aeji Im (Kor) bt Ella Boot (Aus) 5-0, Vittoria de Carlo (Ita) bt Zhansaya Baltabekova (Kaz) 5-0; 69kg: Citialii Ortiz (USA) bt Alina Popp (Ger) 5-0, Nataliya Sychugova (Rus) bt Canser Oltu (Tur) 5-0; 81kg: Arailym Begdilda (Kaz) bt Yelyzaveta Sliusar (Ukr) 5-0, Anastasiia Rybak (Rus) bt Anupama 5-0.