Narender punches quarterfinals ticket

Sofia , February 22

India’s Narender eked out a split verdict win to advance to the quarterfinals of the Strandja Memorial international boxing tournament while the seasoned Shiva Thapa forfeited his second-round bout after coming down with a fever here today.

Unfortunately, India’s experienced campaigner Thapa couldn’t take the ring due to a fever and gave a walkover to his opponent Malik Hasanov of Azerbaijan in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the 60kg class, Varinder Singh lost 0-5 to Abdumurodov Dilsoh of Uzbekistan to bow out, while Sumit lost 1-4 to Rami Kiwan of Bulgaria in the pre-quarters.

Late on Tuesday, Sachin (54kg) beat Henrik Sahakyan of Armenia 4-1 to reach the quarters, while Akash (67kg) registered a comfortable 5-0 victory over Bulgarian Rosen Markov. Sahil (80kg) lost 0-5 to Serbia’s Vladimir Mironchikov.