Li Qian, the Oralbay twins and Khabibullayev were the heroes of the day at the Strandja Memorial Tournament
The 76th edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament opened in Sofia, Bulgaria where China’s Li Qian, the Oralbay brothers and Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullayev were the heroes of the day.
The Strandja Memorial Tournament is Bulgaria’s main international competition and the oldest elite event worldwide therefore such strong nations as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, England, France, Italy, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bulgaria and many others are there.
Kazakhstan’s Gulnar Turapbay prepared well against England’s Kelsey Oakley and her strategy paid off in their light flyweight (50kg) contest. Kazakhstan’s next promising female boxer, Aidana Zabynbekova moved down to the featherweight (57kg) and she defeated a more experienced rival, Croatia’s Nikolina Cacic.
China’s veteran Li Qian decided to continue her boxing career at the age of 35 and the Strandja Memorial is her return to the international stage after Paris. The middleweight (75kg) star used her long-range tactics against Kazakhstan’s Anastasiya Bayazitova and she won their meeting in Sofia by unanimous decision.
Uzbekistan’s new sensation in the elite national team, the reigning ASBC Asian Champion Javokhir Ummataliyev will turn 20 this year but he has such a wonderful boxing skills to beat his rivals easily like he did against Ireland’s Joshua Olaniyan.
Kazakhstan’s most decorated national team member, Nurbek Oralbay moved up to the cruiserweight (86kg) but he opened his campaign with a powerful performance against Bulgaria’s Manuel Zhechev which bout was stopped by the referee in the third round.
Kazakhstan’s former World Champion Bekzad Nurdauletov is back on track with top performance and he shocked Uzbekistan’s Youth World Champion Akmaljon Isroilov in the first round which was the end of their cruiserweight (86kg) preliminary.
Uzbekistan’s ASBC Asian Champion Turabek Khabibullayev moved up to the heavyweight (92kg) in the previous one month and he eliminated one of the top opponents in Sofia already on Day2, England’s Isaac Okoh.
Uzbekistan’s multiple Asian Champion Jakhongir Zokirov suffered a surprise loss in the semi-finals of the recent ASBC Asian Elite Championships but he returned with an amazing success against a tough opponent, Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev.
Kazakhstan’s defending ASBC Asian Champion at the super heavyweight (+92kg), Aibek Oralbay demonstrated his power in the first round against Pakistan’s Tahir Abdul Wahab and the referee stopped their contest immediately.
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