NEW DELHI: India’s Preeti made a sensational women’s World Championships debut, defeating the Romanian top seed Lacramioara Perijoc in a see-saw battle in front of a sizeable home crowd to sail into the pre-quarterfinals of the bantamweight category on Saturday.
Unseeded Preeti toppled World No. 2 Perijoc by 4-3 split decision to claim the biggest scalp of her nascent career in the 54kg division. The Romanian, the EUBC European Champion, had no answer to Preeti’s swift counter-attacks in the third and final period of the round of 32 bout, as the Asian Championships bronze medal-winning Indian punched above her weight to cause the biggest upset win for the host nation so far at the Worlds.
After the first round of three minutes each went 3-2 in Preeti’s favour, the Romanian – last edition’s silver medallist in Istanbul – turned the tables on her Indian opponent by securing the second round with the same scoreline, which made for an engrossing final finish.
By that time, Preeti had understood the game of her rival. As strategized by her coaches in the corner, she relied heavily on counter-attacking punches to thwart Perijoc’s last-minute flourish. It also helped Preeti that Perijoc lost her balance a couple of times while trying to attack upfront.
“In the last round, I changed my strategy. I played more of a counter-attacking game. She was attacking from the front and the ploy was to counter-attack her on moves. I realised that she was losing her balance and that provided me with an opening to counter-attack. What I did was take some steps back to defy her straight punches and then attacked her while she missed connecting some of hers,” Preeti later explained.
“I had worked hard for this bout. I had studied her game by watching her videos and the plan was to attack. She was a tough opponent. I just wanted to prove myself in front of everyone that I can beat a world champion on my day. I will continue to box with the same intensity in the bouts ahead. The target is to win the gold and become World No. 1 in my weight category,” she added.
Joining Preeti in the pre-quarters were Birmingham CWG gold medallist, Nitu Ghanghas, and Manju Bamboriya, who won their bouts convincingly. Nitu defeated South Korea’s Doyeon Kang in the 48kg category in her round of 32 bout, while Manju went past New Zealand’s Cara Wharerau by a unanimous 5-0 decision in the 66kg division.
Nitu scored an emphatic RSC (referee stops contest) victory over her South Korean opponent after Kang received two standing counts in the first round itself. “I was looking to get some good game time in the ring, but my bout didn’t last longer. I am happy with the RSC win. I will look to maintain the same level of intensity in the tournament,” Nitu said.
