Strandja Memorial Boxing: Nitu strikes gold for India

Nitu (48kg) clinched the gold medal in 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria by notching up a facile win over Italy's Erika Prisciandaro in the finals on Sunday. Nitu prevailed 5-0 over the former youth world championship bronze-medallist, producing a wonderful counter-attacking performance by taking full advantage of her longer reach and taller frame.

Later this evening, former youth world champion Nikhat Zareen (52kg) will square off against Ukraine's Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist. Zareen had won a gold medal at the Strandja Memorial's 2019 edition. India won two medals in the last edition with Deepak Kumar and Naveen Boora securing silver and bronze respectively. The performance of the men's squad was underwhelming this time with none of the seven in fray managing to enter the medal rounds. In all, the tournament featured over 450 boxers from 36 countries, including traditional powerhouses such as Kazakhstan, Italy, Russia, France and Ukraine, where Russia launched a military operation on Thursday despite global appeal for restraint.