Tokyo Olympics: Indian boxer Pooja Rani enters women’s middleweight quarters

India’s women’s middleweight boxer, Olympics debutant, Pooja Rani (75kg) defeated Algeria’s Ichrak Chaib in her opening bout to enter the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics. The 30-year-old won 5-0. 

Rani dominated her opponent in all three rounds. The two-time Asian champion became the third Indian female boxer to win the opening match in Tokyo. Chaib, also appearing in her maiden Olympics, just could not figure a way to connect cleanly. Rani played smart by keeping her distance.

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All Rani had to do throughout the bout was counter-attack as Chaib failed spectacularly in trying to hit powerfully, her wild swings mostly missing the target area.

Rani’s Olympic journey has been the one of many struggles. She battled a career-threatening shoulder injury, a burnt hand and lack of financial support before making it this far.

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Her police officer father did not want her to pursue the sport as he felt boxing was a sport meant for aggressive people.

“Maar lag jaegi (you will get hurt). That’s what my father said. He insisted that the sport was not meant for me because in his mind, boxing was pursued by aggressive people,” she had recalled in an interview to PTI detailing her journey.

Next up for Rani is Olympic bronze-medallist, two-time Asian champion, and former world gold-medallist Li Qian of China. The two will square off on July 31.

The 31-year-old has an impressive record against the Indian, having beaten her in the semifinals of the 2014 Asian Games as well as last year’s Asian Olympic qualifiers in Jordan.

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On Thursday, six-time world champion MC Mary Kom (51kg) will fight her pre-quarterfinal bout against Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia, a boxer she has defeated both times the two have faced off.

Mary Kom is chasing her second Olympic medal, having won a bronze in the 2012 London edition.

In the men’s competition, debutant Satish Kumar, the first super heavyweight (+91kg) to make the Olympic cut from India, will open his campaign in the pre-quarterfinal stage against Jamaica’s Ricardo Brown.

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Satish is a former Asian Games bronze-medallist and a Commonwealth Games silver-medallist.

So far, Manish Kaushik (63kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Ashish Chaudhary (75kg) have bowed out with opening-round losses from among the nine-strong squad that qualified for the Games.