In the highly competitive 51kg category, boxer Sakshi Chaudhary opened her account with a crushing 5-0 unanimous decision win over Paris Olympics bronze medalist (50kg) Aira Villegas of Philippines in the round of 32 match at Nishio Gymnasium on Tuesday morning.
A pleased Santiago Nieva, the Indian coach, praised Sakshi on how she nullified the lead hook of Villegas. “We won every round against the Paris Olympics bronze medallist. The biggest positive was that we executed what we had been training during the practice. Sakshi completely neutralised Villegas’s lead hook and managed to land her jab against a southpaw boxer like her. Sakshi’s distance management was good and the back right punch worked well. It’s a good signal that she can outmanoeuvre an Olympics bronze medallist,” Santiago Nieva, tells The Indian Express.
Villegas, who was awarded an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship by the International Olympic Committee in 2022, is among Asia’s leading Southpaw boxers. She relies on her right jab and the left straight punch against orthodox boxers like Sakshi. She landed some lead right hooks on Sakshi early in the piece, but Sakshi countered those with her short jab and straight right punch. Allied with nifty footwork, her right straight punches landed emphatically on Villegas. She duly pocketed the first round 5-0.
The tactic was similar in the second, with Sakshi hinging on her right-handed straight punches. While Villegas did manage to land a couple of right-hand punches, Sakshi utilised her long range and the jab to fox Villegas and win the round 5-0. Clutching at the straws, Villegas tried to go full throttle to survive in the game. But Sakshi remained unnerved and employed her left jab to good effect. A clinical win was sealed.
Santiago recounts: “The bout was a little bit like what we had envisioned and what we had planned for. It was a little bit difficult in the first round as Villegas was a little tricky and elusive. But Sakshi neutralised the offence. She started the round very well with some good attacks and then could control the pace of the fight.”
She grew more expansive as the tie progressed. “Post the first round, Sakshi could open up a little bit more and landed more good right-handed punches. Villegas was trying to rush with her right hand and she landed a couple of punches on Sakshi too. That’s something we need to work on,” he observes.
The coach was happy with the control Sakshi showed. “Mostly, Sakshi was able to counter Villegas when she tried to rush in. Villegas has a very strong lead right hook but she could not land that against Sakshi. Sakshi dominated with her lead left hand and it meant that we put her lead right hand out of the equation. Villegas was only relying on her left punches, which was too easy for Sakshi to read. Sakshi’s short left jab and her straight right hand landed cleanly and coupled with her long rang and distance management, Sakshi could control the bout,” he points out.
A steeper bout awaits in the round-of-16 clash-reigning flyweight world champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan. She has a career record of two losses and one win against Indian boxers, and Santiago explains what Sakshi needs to do against the Kazakh: “We have sparred against Balkibekova in training here. She is a tall and strong boxer. Sakshi has the jab and distance control and Sakshi needs to find more offensive variations.”
It was easy going for CWG silver medallist Jadumani Singh Mandengba as he started his campaign with a 5-0 win against Chandra Bahadur Thapa of Nepal in the Round of 32 of men’s 55kg category.