Naveen Boora (69kg) assured himself of at least a Bronze by advancing to the semifinals, while Manjeet Singh (+91kg) entered the quarters on a successful day for Indian boxers at the 72nd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Boora defeated Brazil’s Eravio Edson in his quarterfinal bout, prevailing 5-0 in the contest. Manjeet, on the other hand, got the better of Ireland’s Gytis Lisinskas in his last-16 stage bout on Wednesday night. Earlier, Jyoti Gulia (51kg) upstaged two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaiby of Kazakhstan, to enter the quarterfinals along with two others. Gulia, a 2017 world youth champion, defeated the Gold-winner from the 2014 and 2016 senior world championships.

She will take on Romania’s Perijoc Lacramioara in her quarterfinal bout later in the day. Another Indian to enter the quarterfinals on the second day was Bhagyabati Kachari, who outclassed Russian opponent Anna Galimova 5-0 in the 75kg category. 

The tournament features boxers from 30 nations, including France, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United States of America and Uzbekistan. India has sent a 12-member team for the prestigious event — seven men and five women.