Asian Games: How Sakshi jabbed her way into round of 16 - The Indian Express
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.
Sakshi Choudhary puts on a composed display to secure a unanimous 5-0 victory in the Women’s 51kg category and book her place in the next round! 🥊
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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.
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
