Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Talented Jyoti Gulia produced a awesome performance to stun two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan and moved d into the quarter-finals of women’s 51kg category at the 72nd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The 2017 world youth champion Haryana pugilist Jyoti was fast with her footwork and showed great attacking skill to outpunch experienced Kyzaibay by 3-2.
Her compatriot Bhagyabati Kachari also outclassed Russian opponent Anna Galimova 5-0 in the 75kg category for a place in last -eight stage .
Meanwhile, in the men’s category, Naveen Boora also made it to the quarter finals with a 3-2 win over Armen Mashakaryan of Armenia in 69kg category. Boora will face Brazil’s Eravio Edson in the next round.
However, four Indian men made an exit with narrow defeats in the pre-quarters. Asian Championship silver medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) went down fighting against Ukraine’s Mykola Butsenko 3-2 while Ankit Khatana (75kg) lost to Viktar Dziashkevich of Belarus.
Sachin Kumar (81kg) and Naveen Kumar (91kg) also suffered 3-2 losses against Armenia A’s Gor Nersesyan and France’s Wilfried Florentin respectively.
Apart from Boora, Manjeet Singh (+91kg) will be seen in action on Day Three of the tournament.