Taiwanese boxers win gold at international boxing tournament in Bulgaria

Taipei, March 3 (CNA) Taiwanese female boxers Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴) and Wu Shih-yi (吳詩儀) clinched gold medals in their respective weight divisions at this year's International Boxing Tournament (Strandja) in Bulgaria on Sunday.

Competing in the women's 70-kilogram division, 27-year-old Chen, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics in 2024, defeated Elisavet Konstantinidou of Greece 4-0 in the final to win gold.

The victory marked Chen's first gold medal win in an international competition this year.

Meanwhile, Paris Olympic bronze medalist Wu also won gold after beating Aidana Zabynbekova of Kazakhstan 4-0 in the women's 57-kg division.

Ko Wen-ming (柯文明), the team coach, praised the performance of the boxers, adding that the gold medal wins certainly help boost their confidence as they competed in a different weight classes this year.

Despite the change they still managed to come out victorious, Ko said.

Chen and Wu competed in the 66-kg and 60-kg divisions, respectively, at the Paris Olympics' boxing event in 2024.

He praised Wu for keeping her composure as the Kazakhstani boxer clinched and swung punches wildly.

Fortunately, Wu had enough experience to counter her opponent, Ko added.

Regarding Chen, he said despite facing a formidable fighter, she still came out on top.

"Although Nien-chin [Chen] won the gold medal, she still didn't fully execute some of the strategies and punches we planned before the bout. There is still room for improvement," he explained.

The 76th edition of the Strandja, which is the oldest international boxing tournament in Europe, is being held from Feb. 22 to March 3.

Following the tournament in Sofia, Ko said the two boxers will first return to Taiwan before heading off to participate in an event organized by World Boxing, an international sports organization, at the end of March.