Sarjubala Devi, Seema Poonia Enter World Boxing Championship Quarters
Both Sarjubala Devi and Seema Poonia progressed to the quarter-finals of the non-Olympic categories of the Women's World Boxing Championships.
Highlights
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Sarjubala, Seema enter quarters of World Championship
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Mary Kom, Pooja Rani and Sarita Devi were knocked out of the championship
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Seema and Sarjubala are taking part in non-Olympic categories
Previous edition's silver-medallist and second seed Sarjubala Devi (48kg) advanced to the quarterfinals along with Seema Poonia (+81kg) as India rounded off a reasonably good day at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, in Astana on Monday.
Jolted by the ouster of their Olympic berth hopefuls M C Mary Kom (51kg), L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg), the Indian contingent had reason to celebrate on Monday after Sarjubala and Seema advanced in the non-Olympic categories.
Sarjubala, a former junior world champion, gave a perfect start to the day for India by pummelling Sri Lanka's Erandi Kaluhath 3-0.
The tempo boxer from Manipur was not stretched much in the bout as Kaluhath looked intimidated from the very first round.
The 22-year-old kept a tight grip on the proceedings by unleashing accurately-placed jabs to be the judges' unanimous choice. She will now face Kazakhstan's Nazym Kyzaibay, who defeated Sweden's Lise Sandebjer 3-0.
Seema was equally dominant in her win over Azerbaijan's Aynur Rzayeva, who was sluggish for most part of the bout and was hardly a match to the attacking Indian. Up next for Seema is China's Shijin Wang, who got the better of Uzebekistan's Guzal Ismatova.
However, the campaign of Pavitra (64kg) came to a halt after she went down to Australia's Skye Nicolson.
The prestigious event is the final Olympic qualifying event for women boxers in three Olympic categories.