Amit enters final at Strandja Memorial Boxing

The fast-rising Amit Panghal (49kg) advanced to the final along with Seema Punia (+81kg) in the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament for men and women here today.

Amit, a gold-medallist at last month's India Open, defeated Russia's Soian Artysh to make the summit clash where he will be up against Morocco's Said Mordaji.

In a fast-paced slugfest, Amit, also an Asian Championship bronze-medallist, showed commendable ring craft to dodge his sprightly rival's attacks. The Indian connected well on counter-attack and didn't give Artysh a clear shot despite his perilously low guard.

Earlier, Asian Championships bronze-medallist Seema Poonia (+81kg) entered the finals, while two other women boxers settled for bronze medals.
 

In the final session late last night, Seema, who got a bye into the semi-finals, defeated Bulgarian Mihaela Nikolova 5-0 to make the summit clash along with M C Mary Kom (48kg) among others.

Settling for bronze medals were World Championships silver-medallist Saweety Boora (75kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg). While Saweety lost to China's Li Quian, Bhagyabati went down to Russia's Mariia Urakova in a split decision.

Earlier last night, former world and Asian champion L Sarita Devi (60kg) and M Meena Kumari Devi (54kg) had also lost in the semi-finals for a third-place finish in the event where five male boxers will be in action in the semifinals today.