Lovlina suffers shock loss by disqualification; Nikhat, Sakshi progress at Strandja Memorial

NEW DELHI: Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) suffered a shock loss by disqualification (DSQ) to Ireland's O’Rourke Aoife in the opening round of the 75th Strandja Memorial Tournament here on Monday.

The referee disqualified Borgohain 1 minute 18 seconds into round three of the pre-quarterfinal bout after the reigning world champion received her third warning for excessive grappling.

The 26-year-old Borgohain, who has already qualified for the Paris Olympics, won the first two rounds 3-2 but had a point deducted in each of the rounds, which left her trailing with three minutes to go.

With Aoife employing an aggressive approach, Borgohain threw punches from afar but failed to connect them. She continuously resorted to clinching throughout the bout leading to her disqualification.

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg) and Sakshi Chaudhary (57kg) began their campaign with contrasting wins.

Paris-qualified Nikhat eked out a narrow 3-2 win over Mongolia’s Oyuntsetseg Yesugen. Both the boxers came with an attacking intent as they delivered powerful blows at every opportunity.

The boxers were at their attacking best and didn't give any breathing space to each other.

However, it was the reigning world champion Nikhat who eventually triumphed. She will face Lkhadiri Wassila of France in her quarterfinal bout on Thursday.

Sakshi, on the other hand, outclassed Selmouni Chahira of Algeria with her swift moments and surprise attacks.

She dominated the match throughout to clinch an easy 5-0 unanimous decision win to enter the quarterfinals. She will face Mamajonova Khumorabonu of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Asian Games bronze medallist Preeti Pawar (54kg) suffered a 2-3 loss to Fay Niamh of Ireland.

Both the pugilists had their moments in the first two rounds with Fay taking the lead early on. Preeti did make a remarkable comeback in the third round with all five judges tilting in her favour, but it wasn’t enough as she bowed out of the tournament after a tough battle.

Manisha (60kg) and Arundhati Choudhary (66kg) will be in action later Monday against France’s Zidani Amina and Sonvico Emilie, respectively.

Late on Sunday, Jugnoo (86kg) secured a hard-fought 3-2 win over Kocharian Ashot of Ukraine in the round of 16 clash. He will now face Djalolov Samandar of Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

On Tuesday, three men boxers will kick-start their campaign in their respective round of 16 matches. Sachin (57kg) will take on Uzbekistan’s Fayzov Khudoynazar, Vanshaj (63.5kg) will face Iran’s Habibinezhad Ali and Sagar (92+kg) will square off against Jazeviciius Jonas of Lithuania.