"I'm proud for winning my first bout in the World Championships

Veteran L Sarita Devi and rookie Manisha Moun gave India a flying start in the women's World Boxing Championships with dominating victories in their respective bouts here yesterday.

While Manisha punched above her weight to outclass veteran American Christina Cruz in an unanimous verdict in 554kg, while 2006 edition gold medallist Sarita (60kg) had to work harder to win 4-0 on points against Diana Sandra Brugger of Switzerland. Both Sarita and Manisha advanced to the pre-quarter-finals where they will face Kellie Herrington of Ireland and Dina Zholaman of Kazakhstan respectively tomorrow.

"I'm proud for winning my first bout in the World Championships. I have proved that I can be at this stage. I will give my best and see how far I can go," Manisha said. "My next bout is against the world champion, but I have beaten her in Poland. It will be tough but I can beat her," she added.

Meanwhile, Sarita admitted that she was finding it difficult to control her opponent. "In the first round I was trying to observe her and find out how to go about in the next two rounds. But she came attacking from the first round itself. I was finding it difficult to control her," she said.

"Under the new points system, you need to have a proper guard and combination of punches to fetch points. That was what I was doing. She got a standing count in the second round and in the third round I was trying to attack."

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