Mary Kom, Manoj Kumar impress on opening day of India Open boxing

Mary KomIndias boxers began the SpiceJet India Open International Boxing tournament on a promising note with fivetime world champion Mary Kom and Commonwealth Games champion Manoj Kumar leading the countrys charge into the next round Mary Kom impressed in her bout against Varsha Choudhary in the lightfly category beating her by a unanimous verdict Varsha put up a good fight despite taking a number of blowsMary Kom had to use all her technical nous to win on the opening day Meanwhile Olympian Manoj overcame Kenyas Kimathi Jacob in the welterweight division The Indian began on a caution note trying to assess his opponent and landed only a few blows in the first two rounds He opened up in the final round picking up all his points and winning with easeAmong the foreign stars Philippines Josie Gabuco lightfly Finlands Marjut Potkonan lightweight Thailands Bunjong Sinsiri lightwelter and Mongolias Erdene Urachimeg flyweight showed their class as they stormed into the next round Earlier Nikhat Zareen bronze medallist at the recently held Senior Womens Nationals at Rohtak provided the first upset beating compatriot and fourth seeded Neeraj in the flyweight categoryNikhat showed more aggression and threw in a flurry of combinations to take charge of the bout Neeraj fought back attacking Nikhats jaw and midriff but with lesser success than desired Nikhat used the square well exploiting the openings in Neerajs defence to launch a series of punches that won her the day and a split points decision 32 Pinki Rani too impressed during her fight against Meenakshi in another allIndian flyweight clashShe was compact as she ducked weaved and exploded with power She threw her jabs hooks and straight rights with clinical precision to outclass her opponent Though Meenakshi proved to be a game fighter she fell short of matching her more accomplished opponent to go down 14 on points The first Indian to take the ring in the mens section Sanjeet appeared to have met a strong opponent in Kazakhstans Rakhmanov OngtalapThe strapping orthodox Kazakh pugilist had power in his gloves and threatened to pound Sanjeet into submission However the opening flurry was just a flash in the pan as the Indian recovered from the early surprise and using his long reach and powerpacked punches rocked the Kazakh His successive punches and jabs to the head and face all through the bout gave him a convincing 41 victory in the heavyweight divisionCameroons Clotilde Essaine packed too many guns for Panamas Bylon Theyna to log a fluent 41 points win in the womens middleweight category while Kenyas Andiego Elizabeth Edhiam surprised powerhouse Mongolias Munkhbat Myagmarjargal in another middleweight boutCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go