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Indian boxer Preeti Pawar stormed into the women's 54kg final at the Commonwealth Games 2026 with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Zambia's Catherine Mwape in Glasgow on Friday, assuring India of at least a silver medal and a chance for gold as well.
The Indian, who had already secured at least a bronze medal by reaching the semifinals, was in complete control throughout the bout. Boxing from the southpaw stance, Preeti dictated the opening round with sharp combinations and intelligent movement, forcing a standing count on Mwape before taking the round 5-0, with three judges scoring it 10-8, according to ESPN. Mwape attempted to increase the pressure in the second round, but Preeti continued to outclass her with precise counter-punching. Another standing count for the Zambian underlined the Indian's dominance as all five judges again awarded the round 10-8 to Preeti. The Zambian came out aggressively in the final round, but Preeti remained composed, landing clean body shots and left-right combinations to comfortably close out the contest. The Indian sealed a unanimous decision to book her place in the gold medal bout. Preeti will take on Canada's Scarlett Delgado in the women's 54kg final on Saturday as she looks to add a Commonwealth Games gold to the World Cup and Asian Championships titles she won earlier this year. India have won 17 medals so far at the Commonwealth Games 2026, comprising three gold, nine silver and five bronze. The gold medals have come through Mirabai Chanu (women's 48kg weightlifting), Sharmila Dhankar (women's shot put F57) and Dilip Gavit (men's 100m T47). India have also claimed silver medals through Rishikanta Singh, Muthupandi Raja, Gyaneshwari Yadav, Sarvesh Kushare, Valluri Ajaya Babu, Harjinder Kaur, Gulveer Singh, Murali Sreeshankar, Mohammed Basil and Lovepreet Singh, while bronze medals have been won by Jhandu Kumar, Bindyarani Devi, Shilpa K Shyla and Seema Kaliramna. (ANI)
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