No Polish fighters in the Strandja quarterfinals

None of the fighters coached by Ivan Yushchenko and Marek Chrobak will appear in tomorrow’s quarterfinals of the 71st Strandja International Boxing Tournament in Sofia. Three Polish fighters had a chance to advance, and we were counting on them strongly with the Olympic qualifiers approaching: Damian Durkacz (63 kg), Ryszard Lewicki (75 kg) and Mateusz Masternak (91 kg). Unfortunately, all three left the ring defeated.

Durkacz lost on points, 0-5, to highly regarded Brazilian Wanderson Oliveira. Recently, at the Military World Games in Wuhan, Oliveira defeated Mateusz Polski. Lewicki was also beaten 0-5 by the solid home favorite Anton Chamov. Masternak, on whom we had placed particular hopes, fought a closely contested bout. However, three of the five judges scored it in favor of Frenchman Paul Omba Biongolo.

RESULTS OF THE POLISH FIGHTERS’ BOUTS [Sofia, January 22 – winners listed first]

63 KG Wanderson Oliveira (Brazil) – Damian Durkacz 5-0
75 KG Anton Chamov (Bulgaria) – Ryszard Lewicki 5-0
91 KG Paul Omba Biongolo (France) – Mateusz Masternak 3-2