Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora Cruise Into World Championships Finals

On a delightful day for Indian boxers, the quartet of Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) marched into the finals of the Women's World Championships with stellar wins In New Delhi on Thursday. While Nikhat out-punched Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia 5-0, two-time Worlds bronze medallist Lovlina beat Li Qian of China 4-1 to book her maiden appearance in the title round of the prestigious championships.

The other two contests went down to the wire and bout reviews had to be taken to declare the winners.

Nitu eked out a 5-2 victory over reigning Asian champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan, while Saweety reached her second World Championships final dispatching Sue-Emma Greentree of Australia 4-3.

In the first bout of the day, Nitu gave the hosts a thunderous start. In a rematch of last year's World Championships quarterfinal, Nitu and Balkibekova went all guns blazing in the first round.

Nitu, who had lost to Balkibekova in the Istanbul edition, learned from her mistakes and adapted well.

She played from close range, throwing Balkibekova off her natural game as the Kazakh prefers to box from a distance.

But Balkibekova still managed to maintain her dominance to take the round 3-2.

In the final two rounds, Nitu persisted with her strategy and was able to land clean hooks and jabs, but Balkibekova kept making things difficult for the Indian.

Balkibekova, last edition's silver medallist, repeatedly resorted to body blows and clinching tactics.

The final three minutes were a tense affair. It was the first time in the tournament that Nitu was playing the third round, and the closeness of the contest saw the bout go into a review.

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