Commonwealth Games champion Nitu Ghangas on Wednesday confirmed India's first medal at the Women's Boxing World Championships after reaching the semifinals. On March 25, she defeated Lutsaikhan Altansetseg with a unanimous 5-0 verdict to earn the gold medal in the 48 kg category.
In her quarterfinal bout, the 22-year-old Haryana boxer overcame Madoka Wada of Japan through RSC (referee stops contest) in the second round to secure at least a bronze medal for India.
The Indian battled fiercely and landed a barrage of strikes on her opponent, prompting the referee to stop the fight and rule in Nitu's favour. She has won all three of her tournament fights by RSC decisions.
Who is Nitu Ghanghas?
Nitu Ghanghas is a southpaw, and her power and pace in the ring are reminiscent of Mary. Yet it is Nitu's merciless aggressiveness and steadfast drive to win that most resemble the Manipuri legend. She was born on October 19, 2000, in Haryana's Bhiwani district's Dhanana village.
Nitu, who is just in her early twenties, still has a long way to go to equal Mary Kom's legacy, but she has been making all the right sounds and slowly collecting her own hoard of medals and accolades.
Jai Bhagwan, her father, worked at the Haryana secretariat in Chandigarh and took 'leave without pay' to teach Nitu in boxing. Nitu claims that her father had to borrow money from friends and family to cover the family's needs.
Her mother's name is Mukesh Devi, and Nitu has a younger brother named Akshit Kumar. Nitu, according to Mukesh Devi, was a 'naughty kid' who frequently got into confrontations with her brothers and at school.
Nitu's professional boxing career began in 2012.
She attended the SAI National Boxing School in Rohtak in 2016. According to Nitu, she suffered from a pelvic injury before enrolling in this school, and the academy assisted her in recovering from the ailment.
She earned gold at the AIBA Young Women's World Boxing Championships in Guwahati in 2017.
She won the Asian Youth Boxing Championship in 2015, defeating Thailand's Nillada Meckoon. Nitu Ganghas also qualified for the Commonwealth Games in 2022 after defeating Mary Kom in a trial match.
She had a shoulder injury in 2019 that forced her to miss two years of boxing. Around this period, the Covid-19 epidemic also had an impact on her training.
She also appeared in the Amazon Prime Video India Ke Toofan in 2011.
She won gold at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2022, defeating Italy's Erika Prisciandaro 5-0.
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