• The 66th Strandja Boxing Tournament official logo

The 66th Strandja Boxing Tournament official logo (Photo : eubcboxing.org)

After a number of silver-medal wins over the last two years, successful Chinese female boxing athlete Li Qian managed to prevail as the victor and gold-medal recipient in the the women's 75kg category at the 66th edition of "Strandja," Europe's oldest international boxing tournament.

Saturday's 2-1 achievement was the result of a struggle against Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands.

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Even though the Chinese boxer emerged as the winner at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games, the Strandja title will be especially satisfying for Li and her manager, as it further breaks up a prolonged spell of close encounters with the top spot at other world-class tournaments.

Li emerged with a silver medal after the 2013 Sportaccord World Combat Games, which was followed by another second-place finish at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Jeju, Republic of Korea (ROK).

Li's grand final appearance in Jeju was a result of her outstanding performance against the Dutch EUBC European Women's Continental Championships silver medalist, Nouchka Fontijn.

However, a 19-year-old Claressa Shields, who is the U.S. London 2012 Olympic champion, was too strong for the Chinese sporting star, and Shields walked out of the ring with her first AIBA Women's Championships gold.

After her loss to the American teenager, Li's silver-medal count was at three for major tournaments over the previous year.

China also featured in other final's matches at the European event. Ren Cancan, who has won the International Boxing Association (AIBA) women's world championship on three occasions, and was a silver medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, was unable to overcome the strength of European champion, Stoyka Petrova, who hails from Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, two other Chinese women boxers found places on the medal podium, with Liu Piaopiao and Yang Wenlu walking away with bronze medals in the 54kg and 64kg categories, respectively.