Semis, Lovlina out

New Delhi: Asian champion Pooja Rani (75kg) entered the

semifinals to secure a medal but two-time world bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) bowed out after a quarterfinal loss at the 35th Boxam

International Boxing Tournament in Castellon, Spain.

In late night bouts on Wednesday, Olympic-bound Rani defeated Italian Assunta Canfora to join the seasoned M.C. Mary Kom (51kg), Simranjit

Kaur (60kg) and debutant Jasmine (57kg) in the last-four stage. The three had won their quarterfinals earlier in the day.

Rani is a three-time Asian medallist and also a 2014 Asian

Games bronze-winner. However, Borgohain, who has also qualified for the Tokyo Games, lost 0-5 to Russia’s Saadat Dalgatova to make a surprisingly early exit from the tournament. Asian bronze-winner Manisha Moun (57kg) was

another Indian to be ousted from contention when she was

defeated 0-5 by Italian Irma Testa in the quarterfinals.