site.btaBoxer Stanimira Petrova's Quarter-final Defeat Dashes Hopes She Could Win First Paris Olympics Medal for Bulgaria

Bulgaria's Stanimira Petrova lost to China's Yuan Chang by a 1-4 decision (29-28, 27-30, 27-30, 28-29, 28-29) in the women's boxing 54 kg quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, dashing hopes of winning the first medal for Bulgaria at the Games. A spot in the semi-finals would have meant at least a bronze for Petrova.

It was a hotly contested bout. Petrova, world champion in 2014 and two-time European champion, took a slight lead after the first round, but in the second round the judges found her performance inferior to that of Chang and the score was reversed.

Therefore, the 33-year-old Bulgarian took more risks in the third and last part of the match, which made her more vulnerable to her opponent, who is good at counterattack. The Chinese landed several accurate punches early in the third round and then defended herself successfully till she won the bout.