Strandja Memorial: Nandini’s first to a medal

New Delhi, February 23

Nandini assured India of its first medal at the ongoing 73rd Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Sofia by advancing to the semifinals with a dominating win over Kazakhstan’s Valeriya Axenova in the quarterfinals.

Nandini was in complete control of her 81kg section bout when the referee stopped the contest in the third round.

She will square off against another Kazakh, Lazzat Kungeibayeva, in the semifinals. Kungeibayeva is a former world champion.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals stage were youth world champion Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) and Parveen (63kg). Choudhary prevailed 3-0 against Germany’s Melissa Gemini, while Parveen outpunched Kazakhstan’s Aida Abikeyeva 5-0.

However, Meena Rani (60kg), Anjali Tushir (66kg), Saweety Bora (75kg) and Sachin Kumar (80kg) lost their respective bouts to bow out of the event.

Rani was beaten 3-2 by Russia’s Nune Asatryan, while Anjali lost 0-5 to Saadat Dalgatova. The more experienced Saweety lost 0-5 to Davina Michel of France.

Sachin was defeated 4-1 by Germany’s Silvio Schierle in the men’s 80kg category. —