Strandja Memorial boxing: Gaurav Solanki, Naman Tanwar enter quarterfinals

With contrasting wins, India’s Gaurav Solanki and Naman Tanwar — both Commonwealth Games 2018 medallists — entered the quarterfinals of the 70th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament, held at Sofia, Bulgaria.

In the 52kg category, Solanki defeated Kazakhstan’s Anvar Muzaparov 3-2 on Saturday night. The 19-year-old Tanwar, on the other hand, got the better of Poland’s Michal Soczynski 5-0 in a dominating performance.

Solanki faces Uzbekistan’s Fayzov Khudonyazar — who defeated Bulgaria’s Tinko Banabakov in the pre-quarterfinals — in the next round, while Tanwar faces Ukraine’s Serhii Horskov, who overcame Serbia’s Darko Stankovic.

Dahiya bows out

However, it was curtains for another Indian, Ankush Dahiya, the Ulaan Baatar Cup gold-medallist. Dahiya lost to Macedonia’s Jasin Ljama, the bout lasting just over a minute before the referee stopped the contest. Dahiya is also a former Asian youth silver-medallist.

India’s best medal haul at this prestigious European event was in 2018 — it had won 11 medals, two of them gold.