Indian
boxer Nikhat Zareen on Friday beat two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of
Kazakhstan to clinch her berth in the semifinals in the 51 kg women’s category at the Bosphorus
Boxing Tournament in Istanbul. Zareen had earlier stunned 2019 world champion,
Russia’s Paltceva Ekaterina in the pre-quarterfinal.

Coming
back to Friday’s match, Zareen dominated the game right from the beginning and
emerged a winner by 4-1 defeating Kyzaibay, a gold medalist from 2014 and 2016
World Championships.

Also Read | Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury sign deal to merge titles, to fight for the title of undisputed champion

Zareen
has ensured herself at least a bronze medal with a place in the last-four.

Apart
from Zareen, 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Gaurav Solanki (57kg) also
sailed into the semifinals after a tough contest against local pugilist Aykol
Mizan.

Both
the boxers attacked throughout the bout but Solanki showed his technical
supremacy to secure a 4-1 win and assured himself of at least a bronze medal.

Also Read | All England Open: PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen breeze into quaterfinals

Among
other women boxers, Sonia Lather (57kg), Parveen (60kg) and Jyoti (69kg) made
exits with losses in their respective quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Shiva Thapa
(63kg) lost 1-4 to Turkey’s Hakan Dogan in an intense bout.

The
fourth day of the tournament will see two Indian boxers fighting in their
respective semifinal bouts later on Friday.

Zareen
will face another tough challenge as she takes on 2019 World Championships
silver-medallist Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey while Solanki will be up against
Argentina’s Nirco Cuello.