CWG 2022: Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain handed easy draws in opening round
India is participating in the 2022 Commonwealth Games from Thursday. Meanwhile, boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain were handed easy draws in the opening round.
FollowReigning world champion Nikhat Zareen and reigning Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain have been handed a somewhat easy opening round draw in the women's boxing tournament of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 that gets underway in Birmingham on Thursday. Nikhat will get her campaign underway in the women's 48-50kg light flyweight category against Mozambique's Helena Ismael Bagao. A win would see her facing off another effortless opponent in the form of Wales' Helen Jones in the quarters. Lovlina will also be up against the lesser-known New Zealand's Ariane Nicholson in her opening light middleweight (66-70kg) bout on Saturday.
At the same time, a triumph will see Lovlina going up against Gold Coast silver medallist Wales' Rosie Eccles in the quarters. The Welsh boxer won a silver medal in 2016 and a bronze in the 2019 European Championships, while she earned a bye in the opening round. Jasmine will directly feature in the quarters in the lightweight (57-60kg) division after gaining a first-round bye.
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However, a tricky quarterfinal final awaits Jasmine, as she will face 2018 Gold Coast bronze medallist New Zealand's Troy Garton on August 4. In the women's minimum weight (45-48kg) category, all Nitu needs is a win to secure a medal, as only eight boxers feature in the draw. She will be up against Northern Ireland's Nicole Clyde in the quarters on August 3.
As for the men, Asian Games gold medallist and 2018 CWG silver medallist Amit Panghal will kick off his campaign against Namri Berri of Vanuatu in the flyweight (48-51kg) category on August 1. In contrast, Mohammad Hussamuddin, who won bronze medallist in 2018, will face South Africa's Amzolele Dyeyi in his featherweight (54-5kg) bout opener on July 30.
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Former Asian and World Championships medallist Shiva Thapa will be up against Suleman Baloch of Pakistan in the opening round of the light welterweight (60 to 63.5kg) category on Friday, which is expected to be a cracker. At the same time, welterweight (63.5 to 67kg) prizefighter Rohit Tokas got an opening round bye and will face off against Ghana's Alfred Kotey in his second bout on August 2.
Sumit, too, got an opening-round bye in the middleweight (71-75kg) section and will be up against Australia's Callum Peters in the second round on Sunday. In the men's light heavyweight (75 to 80kg) event, Ashish Kumar got a bye in the first round. He will fight against Niue's Travis Tapatuetoa on August 1, whereas Sanjeet will face SAM's Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faogali in the opening round of the heavyweight category on Saturday. On Sunday, Sagar will face off against CMR's Maxime Yegnong Nijeyo in the super heavyweight (over 92kg) category's opening round.
