Bulgarian, Turk win landmark women’s Olympic boxing gold medals

Bulgaria’s Stoyka Krasteva and Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey each won boxing gold on Saturday in Tokyo, becoming the first women from their countries to earn Olympic titles in the sport.

The 35-year-old Krasteva, who finished fifth at the London 2012 Games, comfortably beat Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the flyweight final.

Krasteva was ahead on the scorecards after round one — judges’ scores are now displayed on screens to make the system more transparent.

She was again adjudged to have had the better of the second round, leaving her Turkish opponent to come out firing in the third and final round to save her chances of gold.

But Krasteva weathered the storm to win the flyweight title on unanimous points.

In the welterweight final, the 23-year-old Surmeneli won gold on split points against China’s Gu Hong

The 32-year-old Gu was ahead after the first-round, but the charismatic Surmeneli roared back in the second and Gu took a standing count towards the end of the round.

An emotional Surmeneli collapsed to the floor and banged the canvas when her victory was announced, before dissolving into tears.

Women’s boxing made its debut at the London 2012 Games, when there were only three weight categories. There are five in Tokyo.

AFP