Indian boxer Nitu
Ghanghas wins gold in the women’s minimum weight category in the Commonwealth Games2022. This is India’s first medal in boxing in this edition of the Commonwealth Games. Ghanghas, 21, defeated England’s Demi-Jade in the 48-kg final. Ganghas, who had a confirmed bronze medal, assured herself a silver on Saturday and improved it to gold on Sunday. 

Ghanghas’ victory was fairly straight-forward. She landed a barrage of punches on Demi-Jade Resztan, to which the Englishwoman had no answers. Ghanghas won the first round by 5-0 unanimous decision with perfect scores of 10 each from five judges. She scored a perfect 10 from all judges in the second round too. 

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Playing open guard, a confident Ghanghas struck her opponent with straight jabs and combination punches to great effect. 

Nitu Ghanghas is a two-time world youth champion. In the first round (quarter-final) bout against Northern Ireland, she forced Nicole Clyde to abandon the match. There as well, Ghanghas dominated the first two rounds with perfect scores. Five seconds before the match could come to an end, Clyde abandoned. 

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Nitu Ghanghas’ medal was India’s first medal of the 41st day of the Commonwealth Games. Her win followed India’s women’s hockey team winning bronze. India beat New Zealand 2-1 in a shootout after the match ended 1-1 in full time. 

The Indian team scored its first goal through Salima Tete in the second quarter of the match. New Zealand managed to equalise with only 17 seconds left on the clock, when Olivia Marry scored past India’s Savita Punia. The fourth quarter ended with the scores level, leaving it to the shootout to decided the winner.