Guwahati: Fancied boxers Waikai Shylah of New Zealand and England’s Chloe Watson met with first-round setbacks on the opening day of the Women’s Youth Boxing Championships at the Nabin Chandra Bordoloi Indoor stadium on Sunday.

Shylah, who trains in Australia but represents New Zealand, started off well, taking the fight to her Australian opponent Heibloem Indianna. However, she failed to make much of an impact with her contact, be it the jab or the flurry of punches as Indianna moved around the ring fluently while slipping in combinations, often connecting to Shylah’s midriff or her face in the opening round.

The second and third rounds followed the same pattern with Shylah connecting less in the latter, occasionally using the roundhouse to catch her opponent off guard. Despite Shylah impressing in the fourth, Indianna came out as the better of the two, scoring more points and sneaking home by a whisker with a 3-2 win.

The Chloe-Nampai Kittiya bout turned interesting as the English girl’s hands moved like a rudder each time she moved into attack or while defending whenever the Thai girl was on the attack.

Watson unleashed a series of combinations, but many of them missed their target as her taller opponent shielded herself well, and waited for opportune moments to attack back. Nampai Kittiya targeted Watson’s face often since the English kept low to stay safe.

While many believed Watson had won the fight for her aggressive display, it was the Thai who struck her opponent neatly to score her points, winning by a narrow margin, 3-2.

Ukraine’s Lisinska Anastasiia looked impressive in her lightfly weight bout against Germany’s Charlotte Hoffman. Anastasiaa boxed smartly, back-pedalling each time her opponent switched to attack mode only to pounce on her while she retrieved to catch her off guard.

The two boxers tired by the end of the third, holding and slugging it out in short bursts but longer breaks. But the Ukraine boxer had done enough to storm to a convincing 4-1 win.

Results: Preliminaries

51kg (lightfly): Kim Chaewon (KOR) bt Thing Sanu Maya (NEP) 5-0 on pts; Abdraimova Zhansaya (KAZ) bt Wonyou Johanna (FRA) 3-2 on pts; Heibloem Indianna (AUS) bt Waikai Shylah (NZL) 5-0 on pts; Lisinska Anastasiia (UKR) bt Charlotte Hoffman (GER) 4-1 on pts; Nampai Kittiya (THL) bt Chloe Watson (ENG) 3-2 on pts; Kumarage Watthe Imesha Sewwandi Fe bt Saracoglu Beyza (TUR) 5-0 on pts; Delgerkhangai Khongorzul (MGL) bt Stoeva Goryana (BUL) 5-0 on pts; Olchanova Ekaterina (RUS) bt Blaney Shauna (IRL) 5-0 on pts. Gaforova Madina (TJK) bt Wang Yan (CHN) 4-1 on pts.