NE Rhinos received an unexpected boost in their bid to leave Odisha Warriors behind in the race for the semifinals when Jasurbek Latipov was disqualified for a low blow that felled a fading Laldin Mawia in the ninth match of the Big Bout Indian Boxing League here on Thursday.
Laldin Mawia was at the receiving end in the 52kg bout for a good part of two rounds but the southpaw Latipov from Uzbekistan, eager to secure a knockout, hit the young Indian below the belt and floored him.
It did not take much for the judges to agree with the referee in disqualifying the 28-year-old Olympian for the error in judgement caused by a rush of blood.
Earlier, making her maiden appearance in the Big Bout, Pwilao Basmuatary opened for NE Rhinos with a victory over Sandhya Rani that displayed her team's desire to lift themselves up from the lower half of the table. She secured a 4-1 verdict that set the NE Rhinos on the way to securing a crucial victory in their third match.
Odisha Warriors' ploy of fielding World Police Games gold medallist Sandhya Rani in place of Priyanka Chaudhary did not have the desired impact as NE Rhinos were reinforced by the presence of Pwilao Basumatary, fresh from her conquest of the 64kg crown in the National Championship in Kannur.
The teams made four changes each in their line-up before the tie, the most important being NE Rhinos' decision to rest skipper Nikhat Zareen ahead of her big bouts against Ingrit Lorena Valencia of Bombay Bullets and the legendary MC Mary Kom of Punjab Panthers.
NE Rhinos won the toss and blocked the youth women 57kg bout from the draw. They had picked Sunita ahead of Arshi Khanam to square up with Odisha Warriors' Jasmine.
NE Rhinos were keen to move to third spot behind Gujarat Giants (14 points from three matches) and Punjab Panthers (12 points from three).
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