Nikhat, Minakshi, Hitesh sail into semis

World champion Minakshi Hooda, two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen, World Boxing Cup gold medallist Hitesh Gulia and others sailed into the semifinals with comfortable wins in their respective quarterfinal bouts at the Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championships at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, on Thursday.

Minakshi (women’s 45-48kg) of All India Police defeated Kashish Mehta of Punjab 5:0 while Nikhat (48-51kg) blanked Manipur’s Lanchenbee Chanu Tongbram by an identical margin.

In the men’s 65-70kg quarterfinals, Hitesh defeated Punjab’s Tejaswi 5:0 to advance to the semifinals. World Boxing Cup Finals silver medallist Pawan Bartwal (men’s 50-55kg), Jadumani Singh (50-55kg) and Sachin (55-60kg) all earned unanimous decisions in their semifinal bouts.

While Pawan defeated Tyson of Arunachal Pradesh, Jadumani defeated Punjab’s Nikhil and Sachin beat Uttar Pradesh’s Karan. In the women’s 51-54kg quarterfinals, Preeti defeated Harmeet Kaur Virk of Punjab 5:0 while Sakshi got the better of Poonam of RSPB 4:1.