Another Indian boxer advanced to the quarter-finals of the AIBA World Championships as Sonia overcame a stiff challenge from Stanimira Petrova of Bulgaria in the women’s 57kg category on Monday.
She is the third Indian boxer after Mary Kom and Manisha Moun to enter the quarters.
But the first session ended on a bitter note for India as Saweety Boora had to endure a defeat in her pre-quarterfinal against Elzbieta Wojcik of Poland. The Poland boxer won in dominating style as the judges gave an unanimous decision in her favour.
In a thrilling bout against 2014 world champion Petrova, Sonia was on the backfoot in the first round having begun passively. In the first minute, the Indian hardly tried to engage with the Bulgarian and failed to create an opportunity to score.
It was only after the break that Sonia changed her approach and attacked more. India coach Raffaele Bergamasco was animated during the first break and asked Sonia to not move away from her opponent and engage in fight.
She did begin aggressively in the second round and took control of the bout. But it was still a tight bout to call and in the third round, both boxers went all out. Sonia was declared the winner by split decision which left the Bulgarian boxer unhappy.
“This is an unfair decision and I am not happy with it. I won that bout,” she said.
But Sonia reacted to her opponent’s reaction saying that judges decide the winner and it was fair.
“She is an aggressive boxer so I was trying not to go close and move around. The result was fair as it happens outside the ring and as boxers, we fail to understand how the judges came to the decision. It is their job to decide the winner,” Sonia said after the bout.
In her first bout of he tournament, Saweety fought a tough opponent and was on the backfoot early. In the second round, she received a standing count which gave Wojcik the upper hand. The Indian never recovered to match the aggression of the Polish boxer and bowed out of the competition.