Jaismine Lamboria Enters Commonwealth Games Semifinals, Assures India Another Medal

India’s boxing juggernaut rolled on at the Commonwealth Games as reigning world champion Jaismine Lamboria stormed into the women’s 57 kg semifinals with a hard-fought victory over England’s Elise Glynn today, assuring the country of yet another medal. Displaying tactical maturity, composure and sharp counter-punching, Lamboria edged the closely contested quarterfinal to become the 10th Indian boxer to secure at least a bronze medal in Glasgow with the semi finals scheduled for Friday.The victory extends India’s remarkable boxing campaign, with the contingent now guaranteed double-digit medals.Earlier, Preeti Pawar (54kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Sakshi Choudhary (51kg), Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Jadumani Singh Mandengbam (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), Ankush Panghal (80kg) and Narender Berwal (90 kg) had also booked semifinal berths.
National record holder Animesh Kujur clocked his season’s best time to qualify for the 200 metre semifinals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow today.The 23-year-old Kujur clocked 20.46 seconds to win Heat 4 of the first round, finishing ahead of Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who had clinched the 100m gold yesterday with a time of 9.83 seconds.Kujur qualified seventh overall among the 16 semifinalists, while Eseme, who recorded 20.73 seconds in the heats, advanced in 14th place.The 16 fastest from across 10 heats advanced to the semi-finals to be held tomorrow.