Strandja Memorial Boxing: Nikhat stuns Olympic medallist, Nitu too cruise into final

 India's Nikhat Zareen and Nitu continued their rampaging form to progress into the finals at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria on Friday. The 25-year-old Nikhat secured a hard-fought yet convincing 4-1 win against Turkey's Buse Naz Cakiroglu, while Nitu clinched a dominating victory against Hanna Okhota of Ukraine in the semi-finals.

In an intensely fought women's 52kg semi-final battle, the 2019 edition's champion Nikhat put up a solid resistance against the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Cakiroglu as both the boxers exchanged heavy blows and fought from a close distance.

However, Nikhat, the boxer from Telangana, held her nerve and tilted the result of the nail-biting encounter 4-1 in her favour with some hard-hitting punches.

In a contrasting women's 48kg semi-final bout, Nitu produced a well-composed performance against the 2018 World Championships silver medallist Okhota. Having taken an early lead after the opening round, the two-time world youth champion from Haryana capitalised on the momentum and executed timely and precise punches throughout the second round that saw her putting herself in a commanding position.