Strandja Memorial tournament: Boxer Nandini assures medal for India; Arundhati, Parveen in quarters

New Delhi: Nandini (+81kg) assured India of its first medal at the ongoing 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria by advancing to the semi-finals with a dominating win over Kazakhstan’s Valeriya Axenova in the last-eight stage.

Nandini was in complete command of the proceedings when the referee stopped the contest in the third round.

She will square off against another Kazakh Lazzat Kungeibayeva in the semi-finals. Kungeibayeva is a former world champion.

Advancing to the quarter-final stage were youth world champion Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) and Parveen (63kg).

Choudhary prevailed 3-0 against Germany’s Melissa Gemini, while Parveen out-punched Kazakhstan’s Aida Abikeyeva 5-0.

However, there was disappointment elsewhere for India as Meena Rani (60kg), Anjali Tushir (66kg), Saweety (75kg) and Sachin Kumar (80kg) lost their respective bouts to bow out of the competition.

Rani was beaten 2-3 by Russia’s Nune Asatrian.

Anjali was also bested by a Russian in Saadat Dalgatova as she went down 0-5. The more experienced Saweety lost 0-5 to Davina Michel of France.

Sachin, on the other hand, was defeated 1-4 by Germany’s Silvio Schierle.

The tournament features over 450 boxers from 36 countries, including traditional powerhouses such as Kazakhstan, Italy, Russia and France.

A 17-member Indian contingent, including seven men and 10 women, was sent to participate in the tournament.

India won two medals in the last edition with Deepak Kumar and Naveen Boora securing silver and bronze respectively.

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