Greater Noida: Paris Olympian Jaismine Lamboria has often found the going tough against hard-hitting and attacking boxers. Once she is pushed on the backfoot, the mostly 57kg boxer finds it difficult to break the shackles. At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games quarter-finals, North Korea’s Won Ungyong landed such hard punches that the referee stopped the contest (RSC). In Paris, she fared better against Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Nesthy Petecio of The Philippines but could not avoid a first-round exit.
The tall boxer, 23, who has relied on her counterattacks to score, is now backing herself to step up her aggression. The elite women’s national championships here is an opportunity for Jaismine to execute the attacking skills she has been working on at the Army Sports Institute, Pune.
On Sunday, she delivered a dominant performance to beat Chandigarh’s Ruchika, scoring a second-round RSC to move into the quarter-finals. In the first round, southpaw Jaismine’s lethal straight punches were on target and Ruchika was twice given the standing count. Jaismine, the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, returned with more firepower in the second round and the referee stopped the bout after a flurry of punches rattled Ruchika.
“We told her to go all out after the first round and she executed it well,” said Services coach Chhote Lal Yadav. “This is what we are working on – to be more aggressive on the ring. It will take some time to adapt to the new style. She has shown good improvement in the two bouts here,” said the seasoned coach.
Jaismine defeated Ice Prajapati 5-0 in the first round on Saturday.
The boxer from Bhiwani, Haryana showed her talent at international level with bronze medals at the Asian Championships and the Birmingham CWG. After she failed to win an Olympic quota at the Asian Games, she got another opportunity to come down to 57kg and qualify. Within a fortnight of the Paris Olympics, Jaismine returned to train at ASI, Pune.
“She is very determined to work on her game. She knows where she is lacking. With her tall frame (5’9”), she has an advantage and she needs to step forward more often and be more aggressive. Also, when you get an opponent who is very attacking, she should be able to handle the aggression,” says Yadav.
The real test for Jaismine will be international events with the world championships and a series of World Cups lined up this year.
Also moving to quarter-finals was Sanamacha Chanu of Railways Sports Promotion Board. The national champion defeated Manipur’s Bindiya Devi Maorem 5-0 in the 65kg class. Of the 31 bouts on the third day of the competitions, 14 were decided by RSC while four were walkovers. Some states have skipped the competition due to the ongoing tussle among the Boxing Federation of India administrators ahead of the elections.
