Pti

Dubai: Defending champion Pooja Rani (75kg) notched up a second successive gold with a comprehensive victory at the Asian Boxing Championships here on Sunday.

The Olympic-bound Pooja (75 kg), who was competing in her first bout of the tournament after getting a bye and a walkover earlier, dismantled Mavluda Movlonova of Uzbekistan with a clinical performance.

She also earned USD 10,000 for her marvellous one-bout show in which Movlonova was simply out of sorts, unable to keep pace with the Indian's intensity.

However, six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg) and tournament debutant Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) signed off with silver medals after both lost intense final bouts.

The Olympic-bound Mary Kom went down in a split 2-3 verdict to Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan. While Lalbuatsaihi lost 2-3 to her Kazakh rival Milana Safronova a fight to remember.

On Monday, Amit Panghal (52kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) will fight it out in the men's finals.

Panghal will square off against reigning Olympic and world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan. It will be a repeat of the 2019 world championship final in which the Indian had lost to settle for silver.

Thapa will be up against Mongolia's Baatarsukh Chinzorig, who is the Asian Games silver-medallist.

Sanjeet will take on Kazakh legend Vassiliy Levit, who is chasing his fourth gold at the continental showpiece.

Eight other Indians -- the Olympic-bound trio of Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), and Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) -- secured bronze medals after semifinal losses.

They also got a prize money of USD 2,500 each for their third-place finishes.

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