Led by Asian Championship silver medallist Deepak Kumar, three Indian boxers started their campaign on a winning note on the opening day at the 72nd Strandja Memorial tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Deepak (52kg) looked in complete control throughout the contest against Kazakhstan's Olzhas Bainiyazov during an impressive 5-0 win while 2017 World Youth champion and 2019 national champion Jyoti Gulia also dished out a solid show to clinch 4-1 victory against Ukraine's Tetiana Kob in the women's 51kg category. Jyoti will face Kazakhstan's Nazym Kyzaibay in her next round match later in the day.
Another Indian who emerged victorious on the opening day of the tournament was Naveen Kumar who beat USA's Darius Fulghum 3-2 in the men's 91kg category. He will fight against France's Wilfried Florentin in the next round.
Meanwhile, Sakshi (57kg), Shashi Chopra (60kg) and Lalita (69kg) suffered defeats in their respective opening round matches. While Sakshi went down to USA's Andrea Medina 4-1, Chopra lost to Brazil's Beatriz Ferreira 5-0. Lalita also lost her bout 5-0 against Uzbekistan's Navbakhor Khamidova.
Apart from Jyoti and Naveen, Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg), Naveen Boora (69kg), Ankit Khatana (75kg) and Sachin Kumar (81kg) will be seen in action later on Tuesday night.
A 12-member Indian team (seven men and five women) is taking part in the tournament which has participation of boxers from 30 countries including top boxing nations such as the USA, Ukraine, France and Russia.
Meanwhile, India's undefeated star professional boxer and Olympic medalist Vijender Singh is all set to enter the ring after more than a year-long gap due to Covid-19, as IOS Boxing Promotions announced the ace pugilist's upcoming fight in India.
While the promoters are yet to finalise the opponent, date and venue, Vijender will certainly be in action this March with an aim to extend his unbeaten streak 12-0 (8 Knockout wins) in professional boxing. This will be Vijender's 13th professional bout and he is undergoing rigorous training for the past one month and is raring to go.
( With inputs from ANI )
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