New Delhi, Feb 23: Asian silver-medallist Deepak Kumar (52kg) advanced to the quarterfinals with a facile win as Indian boxers got off to a mixed start at the 72nd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Deepak, who had won the 2019 India Open gold-medal, defeated Olzhas Bainiyazov of Kazakhstan 5-0 in his opening bout to make the quarterfinal stage of the competion.
Other winners on Monday included cruiserweight Naveen Kumar (91kg) among men and flyweight Jyoti (51kg) in the women’s draw.
While Naveen defeated American Darius Fulghum in a close fight that ended 3-2 in his favour, Jyoti got the better of Ukraine’s Tetiana Kob 4-1.
However, Shashi Chopra (60kg), Lalita (69kg) and Sakshi (57kg) lost their opening bouts to bow out of the competition.
Shashi was beaten 0-5 by Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira.
Lalita, on the other hand, lost to Uzbekistan’s Navabakhor Khamidova by a similar margin.
Sakshi went down in a split 1-4 verdict to American Andrea Medina.
In the men’s competition, Naveen Boora (69kg) and Ankit Khatana (75kg) have got byes into the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament.
The tournament features boxers from 30 nations, including France, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, United States of America and Uzbekistan. India has sent a 12-member team for the prestigious event — seven men and five women. (PTI)
