Women’s World Boxing Championships | Manju Rani enters final, Jamuna Boro and Lovlina Borgohain settle for bronze

Manju Rani scripted history as she became the first Indian woman boxer in 18 years to enter the finals of the Women's World Boxing Championship in her maiden appearance as she reached the final of the 48 kg (light-flyweight) category in Ulan-Ude, Russia on Saturday. Sixth-seeded Rani stormed to the finals by defeating Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat 4-1 in her semi-final bout.

Rani put up a gutsy show against the more muscular Raksat relying on counter-attacks in the first two rounds and going offensive in the final three minutes. She rattled the Thai with her ferocious combination punches, piercing through her shell guard with forceful straight blows to pick up the victory.

Rani defeated top-seed North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi in the quarter-finals to secure a medal on Thursday. She will take on Ekaterina Paltceva of Russia in the final on Sunday.

Jamuna Boro ended the tournament with a bronze medal after she lost to Asian Games bronze medallist Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei 0-5 (28-29, 28-29, 27-30, 27-30, 27-30) in the 54 kg (Bantam weight) category. Boro started cautiously and played mostly on the backfoot, while her Chinese Taipei opponent used her experience and clinched the bout. 

Lovlina Borgohain had to settle for a bronze medal as she went down fighting to China’s Yang Liu in the 69 kg (Welter weight) category in a split decision of 2-3 (29-30, 29-28, 27-30, 29-28, 28-29) to end her campaign at the World Championships.

Earlier in the day, 36-year-old MC Mary Kom’s dream of adding one more World Championship title to her kitty as she went down by a split 4-1 verdict against Turkey’s Busenaz Cakiroglu in the 51 kg semi-final and had to settle for a bronze.