Nikhat Zareen and Gaurav Solanki settle for bronze at Bosphorus boxing tournament

Bengaluru, March 20: Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen (51kg) and Gaurav Solanki (57kg) settled for bronze medals after going down in the semifinal of the Bosphorus Boxing Tournament in Turkey.

Asian Championship bronze medallist Nikhat had defeated world champion Paltceva Ekaterina of Russia in pre-quarterfinals and two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in quarterfinals in her last two bouts.

She was up against 2019 World Championship silver medallist Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semifinal.

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥🥊

🇮🇳@solankigaurav01 and @nikhat_zareen tried hard but couldn't go through at SF of #BosphorusBoxingTournament as they went down against 🇦🇷's Nirco C and 🇹🇷's Busenaz C by 5️⃣-0️⃣ respectively.

Tough luck, comeback stronger guys!🙌#Boxing pic.twitter.com/MrzLAu3c2s

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) March 20, 2021

The opening round had both the boxers playing the waiting game but the subsequent rounds saw both the boxers attack a lot in an intense bout but the home favourite landed more punches and secured a unanimous 5-0 win.

Nikhat Zareen stuns two-time world champion Kyzaibay to reach semis

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Gaurav, who notched up impressive wins in the previous rounds, was facing Argentina's Nirco Cuello.

Gaurav fought hard and displayed his attacking prowess from the start but conceded clear punches in the dying minutes to lose 0-5 and bow out of the tournament.

India ended their campaign with two bronze medals.

(Source: BFI)