New Delhi: Former World Championship silver medallist Sonia Lather (57kg) was among the three Indian women boxers who advanced to the quarterfinals but the men were off to a disappointing start at the 70th Strandja Memorial tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. The other women who advanced to the last eight stage were Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pwilao Basumatari (64kg) after winning their bouts Thursday night.
Lather, who is also a two-time Asian Championships silver medallist, defeated Serbia’s Jelena Zekic 5-0. She will square off against American Yarisel Ramirez in the quarters.
Borgohain, a gold-medallist from the Indian Open last year, got the better of Australian Jessica Messina by an identical margin while Basumatari endured a stiffer challenge in Bulgarian Melis Yonuzova before prevailing 3-2. She has Croatia’s Marija Malencia coming up in the quarterfinals.
However, there was disappointment for the men with Mandeep Jangra (69kg) and rookie Harsh Lakra (81kg) bowing out following opening round losses.
Jangra lost 0-5 to Ukraine’s Viktor Petrov, while Lakra was beaten by Azerbaijan’s Rauf Rahimov.
India’s best ever medal haul at the competition stands at 11, which was achieved last year. More than 300 boxers from over 40 nations are competing in the ongoing edition.
PTI
