Liverpool, September 6 (H.S.) : Indian boxers produced a stellar show on the second day of the World Boxing Championships, with Sumit Kundu in the men’s 75kg, Neeraj Phogat in the women’s 65kg, and Jasmine in the women’s 57kg all securing emphatic wins to enter the Round of 16.

Sumit Kundu, making a return to the big stage after two years, outpunched Jordan’s Mohammad Al-Husain with an authoritative 5-0 verdict. Boxing aggressively right from the start, he kept his opponent under constant pressure with powerful, well-timed shots. Sumit will next take on Bulgaria’s Paris Olympian Rami Kiwan in a high-voltage clash.

Neeraj Phogat survived a stiff challenge from Finland’s Krista Kovalainen to pull off a narrow 3-2 win. Neeraj landed sharp head shots in the opening round, but Krista fought back strongly in the second. In the decisive final round, the Indian held her nerve to clinch the contest and set up a last-16 bout against England’s seasoned boxer, Sacha Hickey.

Meanwhile, Jasmine, a Paris Olympian and World Boxing Cup gold medalist, stormed into the pre-quarters with a 5-0 triumph over Ukraine’s Daria-Olha Hushtaryna in the 57kg category. After a cautious start in the opening round, she found her rhythm and unleashed a flurry of clean punches to seal the bout in style. Jasmine now faces Brazil’s 2023 Pan American Games champion, Jucielen Cerqueira.

Earlier, on Thursday, World Youth Champion Sanamacha Chanu (70kg) had kicked off India’s campaign with a 4-1 win against Denmark’s Ditte Frostholm. She will next meet Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova in the pre-quarterfinals.

However, India faced a setback in the men’s 90kg category as Harsh Chaudhary bowed out early. He was stopped in the third round by referee intervention against Poland’s Adam Tutak, bringing his campaign to a premature end.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar