Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), April 6 Rising Indian boxer Preeti Pawar defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aeji Im of Korea to reach the final, while seasoned Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain were eliminated from the Asian Boxing Championships here on Monday.
Priya and Arundhati Choudhary also secured wins in their respective semifinals, while world championship medallist Pooja Rani and Ankushita Boro won bronze medals after losing their semifinals.
The star of the day was Preeti, who delivered a composed and clinical performance, dominating all three rounds against Im to secure a 5-0 win.
She will now face Huang Hsiao-wen of Chinese Taipei, a three-time World Champion (2019, 2023, 2025) and Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist, in a marquee gold medal clash.
In the women's 60kg category, Priya produced a commanding display to defeat local favourite Namuun Monkhor 5-0, securing her spot in the final.
She will now take on North Korea's Un Gyong Won in the title bout. Arundhati impressed with a 4-1 victory over Uzbek Oysha Toirova in the 70kg semifinal.
The World Boxing Cup Final gold medallist showcased control and composure to progress to the final, where she is set to face Kazakhstan's Bakyt Seidish.
However, two-time world champion Nikhat went down 0-5 to reigning Olympic medalist China's Wu Yu in the 51kg semifinal.
This is Nikhat's second loss to the Chinese, who had also defeated her at the Paris Games.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina suffered a 0-5 defeat to 70kg World Championships bronze medallist Uzbekistan's Aziza Zokirova in the 75kg semifinal. Having received a bye in the opening round, this was Lovlina's first bout in the competition.
Ankushita went down 0-3 to Chinese Taipei's Nien-Chin Chen, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist, in the 65kg semifinals. The bout was interrupted due to a power supply issue after the first round, following which the result was decided based on points.
In the women's 80kg category, which features only three boxers, Pooja bowed out after a 0-5 semifinal loss to 2023 World Championships bronze medallist Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Ryabets.
On Tuesday, world champions Minakshi Hooda (48kg) and Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) will compete in their semifinals.