Nikhat Zareen, Gaurav Solanki settle for bronze at Bosphorus Boxing Tournament

Indian boxers Gaurav Solanki (57kg) and Nikhat Zareen (51kg) settled for bronze medals after going down in their respective semi-final clashes at the Bosphorus Boxing Tournament.

Zareen, who defeated World Champion Paltceva Ekaterina of Russia in pre-quarterfinals and two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in quarter-finals in her last two bouts, was on Friday up against 2019 World Championship silver medallist Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semi-final.

The opening round had both the boxers playing the waiting game but the subsequent rounds saw the two attack a lot in an intense bout but the home favourite landed more punches and secured a unmous 5-0 win.

On the other hand, Solanki, who notched up impressive wins in the previous rounds, was facing Argentina's Nirco Cuello. He fought hard and displayed his attacking prowess from the start but conceded clear punches in the dying minutes to lose 0-5 and bow out of the tournament. India ended their campaign with two bronze medals.

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

( With inputs from ANI )