Wu Shih Yi, Zeyad Eshaish and Munarbek Seyitbek Uulu were the heroes of the day at the Paris Olympic Games

Chinese Taipei’s Wu Shih Yi, Jordan’s Zeyad Eshaish and Kyrgyzstan’s Munarbek Seyitbek Uulu were the heroes of the fifth competition day at the Paris Olympics.

Thirteen weight categories, 248 top boxers, 124 female and 124 male athletes from 69 nations will compete in the boxing event of the Paris Olympics.

Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, China, Chinese Taipei, India, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Jordan, Mongolia, South Korea, DPR Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Palestine will have boxers in the Olympic Games from the Asian continent.

Uzbekistan’s World Champion and Asian Games winner Abdumalik Khalokov is one of the top stars in the entire Olympics and he proved his amazing talent against Sweden’s last hope in the Olympics Nebil Ibrahim today. The Uzbek will now meet for the guaranteed medal Spain’s Jose Quiles who had a surprise success against Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan.

China’s Tokyo silver medallist Li Qian won more than 95% of her international contests in the previous seven years and she became champion in several top events. The tall Chinese middleweight (75kg) boxer used her distance well against Philippines’ Hergie Bacyadan and her smart boxing guaranteed her place in the last eight.

Another medallist from the Tokyo Olympics, India’s Lovlina Borgohain met a Nordic competitor, Norway’s Youth World Champion Sunniva Hofstad in the next women’s middleweight (75kg) contest. The 27-year-old Indian did not underestimate the young Norwegian and she controlled most of the exchanges successfully to win this meeting.

China’s Yang Wenlu and Serbia’s ex-Russian Natalia Shadrina both won big championships during their career but they had to meet each other already in the quarter-final today. Their contest decided the first medal in the Paris Olympics and both boxers gave in everything to join the last four. Yang’s best round was the second and despite Shadrina’s impressive last minutes, the Chinese could celebrate the guaranteed medal at the lightweight (60kg).

Philippines’ Tokyo silver medallist Carlo Paalam moved up to the featherweight (57kg) last year and he qualified for Paris through the last event in Bangkok. The strong Filipino was not enough punctual in the first round against Ireland’s Jude Gallagher but from the second he had the good combinations to win this Round of 16 battle.

Uzbekistan’s Asadkhudja Muydinkhudjayev, the World Champion, dominated his Round of 16 bout in Paris, he was too strong and experienced for Egypt’s Omar Elawady at the light middleweight (71kg). His success means that all of the seven Uzbek male boxers advanced to the quarter-finals in the Olympics and they need only one further step to succeed.

Japan’s World Champion and Asian Games winner Sewonrets Okazawa landed body shots in his bout today but he was not enough successful in the first round against Jordan’s Zeyad Eshaish. The Jordanian had the advantage on the scorecards after six minutes of fight and the 26-year-old boxer used his stamina to eliminate Japan’s best boxer in Paris, winning the preliminary battle by 3:2 split decision.

Chinese Taipei’s Wu Shih Yi had a few difficulties in the first round against Ecuador’s Maria Jose Palacios and she had a disadvantage on the judges’ scorecards in their quarter-final. Wu received the right instructions, she turned up the heat in the beginning of the second and made a fantastic comeback which delivered for her a career highlight, an Olympic boxing medal.

Kyrgyzstan returned to the Olympic boxing map after eight years of break due Munarbek Seyitbek Uulu’s quota in Bangkok. The World bronze medallist Kyrgyz was hungry for an Olympic success and he delivered one of his best ever performances against a Cuban star, Saidel Horta to win their Round of 16 contest.

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