Tamil Nadu's R. Priyanka delighted the home-town fans with a surprise 11-3 win over favourite Sayali of Maharashtra, and entered the semifinal of the 44-kg weight class for 14-year olds in the second JCT sub-junior National boxing championship for women at the JCT College of Engineering and Technology here on Monday.
In the 40-42kg class, K. Nivetha of Tamil Nadu displayed courage at the start against Madhya Pradesh's Nisha. But as time wore on, Nisha showed no mercy on Nivetha that the referee was forced to stop the contest midway through.
The 36-kg weight class for the 13-year olds also witnessed some riveting action with Ritika of Delhi and Preeti Kumari of Jharkhand advancing to the next round with contrasting victories. Ritika plundered her way into the semifinals with a 10-5 win over L. Pavithra of Tamil Nadu.
On the other hand, Preeti had to dig deep against Sujata of Haryana. After three rounds (1.5 minutes each) of intense battle, the former won on individual judge's score.
Usha Rani Vankayala of Andhra Pradesh also made it to the last four beating Puspanjali Behera of Orissa in a lopsided contest. She won 11:6 on points.
