Sangwan, Zareen in finals of Belgrade boxing event

New Delhi: Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg) were among eight Indian boxers to advance to the finals, while five others claimed bronze medals at the 56th Belgrade International tournament in Serbia.

Sangwan defeated Greece’s Vagkan Nanitzanian after his opponent threw in the towel in the third round of the bout late on Friday night.

The India Open bronze medallist faces Ecuador’s Castilo Torres for the gold. Zareen out-punched Serbia’s Nina Radovanovic for a 3-0 win. The nationals bronze medallist will be up against Greece’s Aikaterini Koutsogeorgopulou of Greece in the final.

Also advancing to the finals were Himanshu Sharma (49kg), Laldinmawia (52kg), Varinder Singh (56kg), Pawan Kumar (69kg), Jamuna Boro (54kg), and Ralte Lalfakmawii (+81kg).

Himanshu defeated France’s Mohamed Radji 3-0, while Laldinmawia staved off a stiff challenge from Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi for a 2-1 win.

Varinder registered a 3-0 triumph over Algerian Khalil Litim, while Pawan also claimed a 3-0 win against local boxer Aleksander Popovic.

Jamuna claimed a 2-1 victory over Poland’s Laura Gryzb even as Lalfakmawii beat Russian Aleksandra Dmitrieva.

Among the men, Narender (+91kg) went doen to Serbia’s Vladan Babic in a split verdict to finish with a bronze.

In the women’s competition, Rajesh Narwal (48kg), Priyanka Thakur (60kg), Rumi Gogoi (75kg) and Nirmala Rawat (81kg) clinched bronze medals.