Deepak stuns Olympic champion in Strandja Memorial Tournament

The 25-year-old has been in terrific form in the tournament.

Indian boxer Deepak Kumar produced a scintillating performance to cause a major upset at the ongoing 72nd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria as he outpunched the reigning Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov.

Deepak Kumar gave his best to defeat the Uzbek boxer in the men's 52kg semi-final bout on Friday.

Showing a great composure in the ring, the Asian Championship silver medallist Deepak poduced one the best performances of his career to clinch a thumping 4-1 win against more fancied Zoirov, who had earlier clinched 2019 World Championship title beating star Indian boxer Amit Panghal.

With this sensational victory, Deepak has secured a place in the final and will aim to clinch the gold medal. Later tonight, Naveen Boora will be seen in action during his 69kg last-four bout against Asian Games gold medallist Bobo-Usmon Baturov.

Earlier, Deepak had defeated local boy Darislav Vasilev 5-0 in the quarterfinal of the tournament. The Asian Championship silver medallist Deepak looked in complete control throughout the match. He was swift in his movement inside the ring and his speedy footwork did not allow his Bulgarian opponent any chance to score.

Meanwhile, Indian women boxers Jyoti Gulia (51kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (75kg) suffered 5-0 defeats in their quarter-final bouts. Gulia lost to Romanian boxer Lacramioara Perijoc, Kachari also went down against the world championship bronze medallist Naomi Graham of the USA. Manjeet Singh also lost his +91kg quarter-final bout against Armenia’s  Gurgen Hovhannisyan.

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