World Boxing Cup Finals: Minakshi, Preeti, Arundhati, Nupur win gold as Indian women shine bright on historic final day

Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh): Minakshi (48kg), Preeti (54kg), Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), and Nupur (80+kg) powered to gold medals as India’s women boxers delivered riches on a landmark day for the nation at the World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 in front of a packed house at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex.

Their triumphs came in several key divisions that will feature at the 2028 Olympic Games—where boxing moves to full gender parity—highlighting India’s growing competitive strength on the road to Los Angeles.

Their dominant performances capped a remarkable campaign for the host nation, which also saw Jadumani Singh, Pawan Bartwal, Abhinash Jamwal, and Ankush Phangal finish with well-earned silver medals, underlining India’s rising stature across both men’s and women’s Olympic-class weight categories.. Seven more Indians will be fighting for gold in Session 7, including reigning World Champion Jaismine Lamboira, two-time former World Champion Nikhat Zareen, and dual World Boxing Cup medalist Hitesh Gulia.

Minakshi set the tone for the day with a near-flawless 5:0 win over reigning Asian Champion Farzona Fozilova, unleashing her trademark aggression from the opening bell. The World Champion combined speed with razor-sharp accuracy, cracking open the bout with a blistering left–right combination in Round 1 and maintaining complete control through assertive jabs, clean counters, and airtight defence.

Preeti followed with another dominant 5:0 performance, overpowering Italy’s World Championship medallist Sirine Charrabi with relentless pressure. She repeatedly drove Charrabi into the corner, landing crisp face punches and dictating the tempo through superior footwork and sustained attacking bursts.

Arundhati Choudhary—former Youth World Champion—delivered one of the day’s most complete performances, dismantling Uzbekistan’s Aziza Zokirova with a commanding 5:0 win. Returning after 18 months, she blended sharp offence with disciplined defence, scoring heavily with decisive jabs and maintaining total tactical control across all three rounds. The gold surge continued as Nupur edged Uzbekistan’s Sotimboeva Oltinoy 3:2 in a tense, tactical showdown.

In the men’s finals, India picked four silver medals. Jadumani Singh (50kg) fought with heart but fell 1:4 to Uzbekistan’s Asilbek Jalilov, while Pawan Bartwal (55kg), who had produced one of the tournament’s biggest upsets earlier in the week, went down to Samandar Olimov. Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) lost a spirited contest 1:4 to Japan’s seasoned Shion Nishiyama, and Ankush Phangal (80kg) was bested by England’s defending World Cup champion Shittu Oladimeji.

IANS