Despite towing an unpleasant episode, Sonia Chahal's upset victory over Bulgarian Olympian and former World championships medallist Stanimira Petrova remained one of the highlights of another bright day for India in the ongoing World Women's Boxing Championships at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex here on Monday.
India is well-poised for a successful campaign as Sonia (57kg), Pinki Rani (51kg) and Simranjit Kaur (64kg) joined five other Indians, including Seema Poonia (+81kg), who directly reached the quarterfinals, in the last eight stage.
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Sonia rode her luck to stun Stanimira with a 3-2 scoreline. With two boxers displaying a similar style of play – showcasing open guard and waiting for the other to strike – it was a case of who blinked first.
Having sparred with Stanimira before the championships, Sonia had her task cut out and looked for counter-attacks. However, she could not check the Bulgarian, who exhibited sharp instincts and landed accurate head shots to put pressure in first two rounds.
Sonia, however, switched to a more attacking display in the final round and clinched the bout.
“I thought I was losing in the second round, so I had to be aggressive in the final,” said Sonia. She next faces Colombian Yeni Castenada, who defeated Russia's Maria Sartakova 5-0.
Stanimira was shocked with the decision. The dejected 27-year-old said, “I want to say one thing – all judges (sic) in corruption. Not a fair result.”
The Bulgarian coach, 1980 Moscow Olympics flyweight gold medallist Petar Lesov, threw a water bottle and made some gestures at the home supporters.
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The International Boxing Association (AIBA) “decided to remove the accreditation, and therefore the right to be in the corner, from Lesov due to his unacceptable behaviour...The incident will be forwarded to the Disciplinary Commission.”
Pinki overcame England's Alice Jones 5-0. She conceded some ground in the opening round before catching up with her counter-punching skills and setting up a quarterfinal clash with North Korea's Asian Games silver medallist Pang Chol-Mi, who beat Thai Jutamas Jitpong 5-0.
Simranjit saw off Scottish pugilist Megan Reid 5-0. After a sluggish opening round, Simranjit improved her footwork and sprayed an assortment of hooks and straight punches to win the contest convincingly. She will next take on Ireland's Amy Broadhurst, who tamed Armenian Ani Hovsepian 5-0.
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Saweety Boora, a 2014 Worlds silver medallist in 81kg, lost to Polish Olympian Elzbieta Wojcik 5-0.
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