Greater Noida, Nov. 17 -- Newly crowned world champion Minakshi Hooda and Paris Olympian Preeti Pawar delivered power-packed performances to advance to the semi-finals of their weight categories on the opening day of the Boxing World Cup Finals here on Sunday. Minakshi (48kg) defeated Kazakhstan's Bolat Akbota 5-0, while Preeti (54kg) also secured an emphatic win over Nigina Uktamova of Uzbekistan. Preeti was returning to international action after more than a year. Her last competition was the Paris Olympics, where she lost in the round of 16. She subsequently lost her place in the national team to Sakshi Chaudhary but has now made a strong comeback with this tournament. Her Uzbek opponent started aggressively in the first round. Though she managed to land some clean blows early on, it was in the second round that Preeti truly took control. With sharp footwork and precise combination punches, she pushed Uktamova onto the back foot. The Uzbek tried to mount pressure in the third round, but Preeti remained dominant. "This is my first international tournament since the last Olympics. This gap (away from the national team) was very challenging but it motivated me to come back. I am feeling very positive," said Preeti. "I have worked on my defence and counters. I am an attacking boxer. I was sick after the Olympics and my body was down. I had to work a lot on my endurance to get back." Minakshi displayed the confidence of a reigning world champion, having won the title in Liverpool in September. In the men's competition, Ankush Phangal (80kg) defeated Japan's Go Wakaya 5-0. In 90+kg, Narender Berwal prevailed over Ukraine's Andrii Khaletskyi 4-1....