India's Boxing Breakthrough: Sumit Kundu, Jadumani Singh Shine at World Cup Finals

Sumit (75 kg) and Jadumani Singh (50 kg), ensured India completed a perfect medal sweep across both sessions, along with Pawan Bartwal (55kg) and Hitesh Gulia (70 kg,) delivering two of the tournament's biggest results.

Indian Boxer Sumit Kundu said, "My performance was not that good in the first round. But it was very good in the 2nd and 3rd rounds... I was injured, and it took me around 2 years to make a comeback... I have reached the semifinals and I am happy about it..."

Sumit followed Pawan's lead with an equally assured 5:0 win over South Korea's Kim Hyeon-tae in the 75kg quarterfinals. A sharp punch to the face early in the bout set the tone for a relentless display where the Indian pugilist married aggression with tactical control.

He pressed forward throughout, dictating the exchanges and forcing Kim into survival mode as the verdict became a formality. Naveen, a Strandja 2024 medalist, completed the trio of wins in Session 2 with a composed and intelligent performance against Kazakhstan's Bekzat Tangatar.

Indian Boxer Jadumani Singh said, "... Today's match was against Kazakhstan. It was a good game. I learnt a lot about how I should play further in the semifinals..."

In session 3, Jadumani opened his World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 campaign with a unanimous decision win over Kazakhstan's Nurzat Ongarov, displaying his blistering attacking intent from the get-go and pinning his opponent to the ropes throughout the contest.

In the day's other results, Taiwan's Paris Olympics medalist Wu Shih-Yi delivered one of the standout wins of the session, dominating Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova 5:0 in the women's 57kg division. In the men's 55kg and 75kg brackets, Uzbekistan's Samandar Olimov, England's Ellis Trowbridge, and Uzbekistan's Javokhir Abdurakhimov advanced, while Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Poland also secured key victories across the afternoon session.

Ten Indians will enter semifinal action on Day 3 on Tuesday, led by World Champion Minakshi (48 kg) against Korea's Bak Cho-rong. Preeti (54 kg) faces a major test against Olympic medalist and three-time World Champion Huang Hsiao-Wen, while Arundhati Choudhary (70 kg) meets German standout Leonie Muller, who has won a medal each at the three previous stages of the World Boxing Cup 2025. Saweety Boora (75 kg) takes on Australia's Emma-Sue Greetree, with Narender, Naveen, and Ankush also chasing finals spots. Abhinash Jamwal opens his campaign against Ukraine's Elvin Aliiev.

- ANI