New Delhi: As the high decibel home crowd here lustily clapped to the newly crowned World Champion Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) whose emotions flowed from exulting to fist pumping in the air and finally tears trickling down her cheeks, the pugilist included her name with the greats of the game such as Manipur's trailblazer Mary Kom in the champion's list.
She beat Mongolia's Lutsaikhan Altansetseg to clinch gold and earn herself the World Championship title. Her hero, Beijing Olympics bronze medallist Vijender Singh too was in attendance, watching history unfold as the boxer registered a 5-0 victory over Altansetseg to win the title clash in the minimum weight category.
In another late night performance, Saweety made it two out of two for the hosts as she warded off a challenge from two-time medallist China's Wang Lina.
Competing in her second World Championships final, Saweety faced a tough challenge against the 2018 World Champion Wang Lina. However, the Indian made use of her high technical ability and strength throughout the bout to impressively overpower her opponent in the closely contested bout.
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What a triumph! 🏆🥊 Congratulations to @NituGhanghas333, our Commonwealth Games Champion, on becoming the new World Champion by winning the 🥇 at the IBA Women's Boxing World Championships!
— Nisith Pramanik (@NisithPramanik) March 25, 2023 m.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">" class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
You have showcased your incredible talent and hard work, making 🇮🇳 proud! 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/F2fMBTxbAS
m.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">">What a triumph! 🏆🥊 Congratulations to @NituGhanghas333, our Commonwealth Games Champion, on becoming the new World Champion by winning the 🥇 at the IBA Women's Boxing World Championships!
— Nisith Pramanik (@NisithPramanik) March 25, 2023
You have showcased your incredible talent and hard work, making 🇮🇳 proud! 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/F2fMBTxbAS
m.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">What a triumph! 🏆🥊 Congratulations to @NituGhanghas333, our Commonwealth Games Champion, on becoming the new World Champion by winning the 🥇 at the IBA Women's Boxing World Championships!
— Nisith Pramanik (@NisithPramanik) March 25, 2023
You have showcased your incredible talent and hard work, making 🇮🇳 proud! 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/F2fMBTxbAS
"I am thrilled after fulfilling my dream of becoming the World Champion. The bout went well and I was able execute our planning perfectly. My performances in the tournament got better as the bouts progressed with my body also responding well. I want to thank the fans for their constant love and support," said Saweety after the bout.
Nitu peppered punches, jabs, hooks and punches to knock out her opponent to dominate the first round by a margin of 5-0. Although, the interest was brought in during the second round when the 22-year-old Bhiwani boxer went with straight jabs. Altansetseg responded, though, but the Indian defended with right hooks.
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GOLD FOR NITU 🥇🤩
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 25, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Wins the bout 5️⃣-0️⃣ 💥🔥
Book your tickets for the final 🔗:https://t.co/k8OoHXoAr8@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #WorldChampionships #WWCHDelhi @Media_SAI @IBA_Boxing @NituGhanghas333 pic.twitter.com/XxRzmz3iJJ
">GOLD FOR NITU 🥇🤩
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 25, 2023
Wins the bout 5️⃣-0️⃣ 💥🔥
Book your tickets for the final 🔗:https://t.co/k8OoHXoAr8@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #WorldChampionships #WWCHDelhi @Media_SAI @IBA_Boxing @NituGhanghas333 pic.twitter.com/XxRzmz3iJJGOLD FOR NITU 🥇🤩
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 25, 2023
Wins the bout 5️⃣-0️⃣ 💥🔥
Book your tickets for the final 🔗:https://t.co/k8OoHXoAr8@AjaySingh_SG l @debojo_m#itshertime #WorldChampionships #WWCHDelhi @Media_SAI @IBA_Boxing @NituGhanghas333 pic.twitter.com/XxRzmz3iJJ
What seemed like a close contest for some time, the two boxers played from close range and indulged in a lot of holding in the fast-paced bout with Nitu being handed a penalty deduction for clinching towards the end of the second round. Despite a fightback by Altansetseg, Nitu still bagged the round with a minuscule margin of 3-2. As the final minutes approached, Nitu decided to keep her distance from her opponent only to switch to play from a close range.
"I am very happy after winning the gold medal. I fell short in my quest for the gold last year so we worked on the mistakes and won it this time round in front of the home support. Having discussed with my coaches yesterday I had decided to be aggressive since the first round today to get the scores in my favour. I have been working hard for many years and this medal means a lot to me," said Nitu after her bout.
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All set to cheer for our Bhiwani girl @NituGhanghas333 for finals in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/DlkdaMkBN3
— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) March 25, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">All set to cheer for our Bhiwani girl @NituGhanghas333 for finals in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/DlkdaMkBN3
— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) March 25, 2023All set to cheer for our Bhiwani girl @NituGhanghas333 for finals in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in New Delhi 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/DlkdaMkBN3
— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) March 25, 2023
A form to envy, Nitu has dominated this tournament as she registered victories in first three bouts by RSC (Referee stops contest). Her rise was visible when she buckled down Alua Balkibekova against whom she had lost in the quarterfinals in the last championships, playing against her strengths.
Nitu, a Strandja Memorial gold medallist, is now the sixth Indian to have sealed the championships with the highest number of titles won by India great Mary Kom (six times) (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), and others -- Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006), Lekha KC (2006) and Nikhat Zareen (2022) -- winning once in their careers.
