Former world silver-medalist Sonia Lather along with three other Indian women boxers advanced to the quarterfinals of the seventieth Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Sonia Lather who is also a two-time Asian silver medalist defeated Serbia’s Jelena Zekic 5-0 in the 57 kg category and will be facing American Yarisel Ramirez in the quarters.
On the other hand, the men were off to a disappointing start with former Commonwealth Games silver-medalist Mandeep Jangra(69kg) and rookie Harsh Lakra(81 kg) bowing out with the opening round defeat. Jangra lost 0-5 to Ukraine’s Victor Petrov whereas Lakra was defeated by Azerbaijan’s Rauf Rahimov.
Last year was India’s best medal haul ever with 11 and this year they are hoping to emerge victoriously with more medals to their account. More than 300 boxers from over 40 nations compete in this prestigious edition of the tournament.
