In Boxing, Indian pugilists have assured themselves of five medals in the 70th Strandja Memorial tournament at Sofia in Bulgaria. In the 49 kg category, Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal defeated Ukraine’s Nazar Kurotchyn, 3-2 to enter the semifinals and assure a Bronze medal.
Earlier in the day, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Gaurav Solanki in 52 kgs and Naman Tanwar in 91 kgs both advanced to the quarter-finals. Besides Panghal, four medals were guaranteed by Indian women pugilists at the end of the third day yesterday.
Lovlina Borgohain in 69 kgs, Manju Rani in 48 kgs, Nikhat Zareen in 51 kgs and Neeraj in 60 kgs stormed into the semi-finals with superb victories. However, 2016 World Championship silver winner Sonia Lather lost to American Ramirez Yarisel, 1-4 in the 57 kgs quarterfinals. India’s best medal haul at this European event was last year. It had bagged a total of 11 medals, including two Gold.
