Harpal Singh Bedi
Two boxers Nitu and Anamika made it to the quarter-finals while two other Indians crashed out after losing their first round bouts on the second day of the 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Akash Sangwan and Shiksha, exited following similar 0-5 defeats in their respective matches.
Nitu opened the day’s proceedings brilliantly as she recorded a dominating 5-0 win against Russian Iuliia Chumgalakova in the first round of 48kg
Anamika, also displayed aggressive skills in her 50kg preliminary bout as she defeated the local favourite Zlatislava Chukanova 4-1.
Nitu and Anamika will now take on Italy’s Roberta Bonatti and Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualem respectively in their Last-8 contests.
However Shiksha lost to the reigning Asian champion Dina Zholaman of Kazakhstan in the 54kg opening round bout.
In the men section Akash Sangwan lost to German pugilist Deniel Krotter 67kg second round,
The current youth world champion Arundhati Choudhary alongside national champion Rohit Mor and six other Indian boxers will begin their campaigns later
Over 450 boxers from 36 countries are taking part in Europe’s oldest international boxing tournament to be played till February 27.
A 17-member Indian contingent, including seven men and 10 women, is participating in the tournament which is also the their first exposure trip this year.