Double Delight: Nitu Ghanghas, Saweety Boora become world champions
New Delhi, Mar 25: Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and the seasoned Saweety Boora (81kg) etched their names in history as they were crowned world champions after notching contrasting wins at the marquee tournament here on Saturday.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nitu put up a stupendous performance to see off Mongolia's Lutsaikhan Altansetseg 5-0 and claim the title for the minimum weight category in front of a packed crowd, with Beijing Olympics bronze medallist and Nitu's idol Vijender Singh also present.
Saweety made it two out of two for the hosts as she warded off a challenge from two-time medallist China's Wang Lina.
In the first bout of the day, Nitu started off aggressively and used her combination of punches, landing jabs and hooks effectively.
The 22-year-old Bhiwani boxer was able to take the first round 5-0. She began the second round with a series of straight jabs.
When Altansetseg attacked, the Indian southpaw countered with right hooks. The two boxers played from a close range and indulged in a lot of holding in a fast-paced bout with Nitu being given a penalty deduction for clinching towards the end of the second round.
Despite Altansetseg's strong comeback in the round, Nitu still managed to take it 3-2.
In the final three minutes, Nitu started from a far but soon ditched the strategy and reverted to playing from a close range, as Altansetseg was also given a point deduction for clinching.
Nitu has been in indomitable form in the tournament, winning her first three bouts by RSC (referee stops contest).
Against Alua Balkibekova, who knocked her out in the last edition in the quarterfinal stage, she skilfully adapted to negate the Kazakh's strong suit.
The two join an elite list which includes six-time champion Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006), Lekha KC (2006) and Nikhat Zareen (2022).
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Trump tells Fox News he's no longer sending Witkoff, Kushner to Pakistan for Iran talks
Islamabad (AP): President Donald Trump says he told top US envoys not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, telling Fox News that "they can call us anytime they want.”
In a brief phone interview Saturday, Trump told Fox News that he told US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “you're not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”
Trump also said of the US side “we have all the cards.”
His comments came after the White House said Friday that Witkoff and Kushner would be heading to Pakistan for another round of negotiations with Iran.
