GREATER NOIDA: Imposing flexboard cutouts of Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen greet you at the entrance of the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik sports complex. Inside, noisy action from the elite women’s boxing nationals resonates in the hall. But it is a very sparse tournament that is finally taking place after being postponed twice — first in November 2024 and then in January 2025.
You soon realize that Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina from Assam and two-time world champion Nikhat of Telanga-na are only present as publicity. On Ring ‘A’, representing Punjab, veteran Simranjit Kaur is summoning all her tactical acumen in outclassing Prachi of the Railways Sports Promotion Board. It is a unanimous decision for Simranjit, a World and Asian championships medallist in the lightweight (60kg) quarterfinal.