Today, at the second stage of the World Boxing-2026 World Cup in China, eight Kazakh athletes held quarterfinal bouts. Five of them advanced to the semifinals. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Sanzhar Tashkenbay (50 kg) defeated Kyrgyzstan's Anvarjan Khodjiev by unanimous decision. Our boxer will contest a spot in the final against Spain's Martin Molina Salvador.
Abylaykhan Zhusupov (70 kg) secured a confident victory over Uzbekistan's Shavkatjon Boltayev. In the next round, he will face Jordan's Zeyad Ishaish, bronze medalist of the 2025 World Championships.
Aibek Oralbay (+90 kg) had no trouble against England's Matthew Williams. In the fight for a place in the final, the Kazakh boxer's opponent will be Brazil's Joel Ramos.
Victoria Grafeeva (60 kg) easily defeated two-time world championship bronze medalist Oh Yeon-ji from Korea. In the semifinals, our athlete will meet Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova.
Aida Abikeyeva (65 kg) defeated American Marie Rosendo by split decision (4:1). Next, she faces two-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion Beatriz Ferreira from Brazil.
Timur Nursetov (75 kg), Alua Balkibekova (51 kg), and Laura Yesengeldi (70 kg) were eliminated from medal contention. They lost to Bulgaria's Rami Kiwan, 2025 world champion Minakshi M. from India, and China's Liu Yang, respectively.
Earlier, Nazym Kyzaybay (54 kg) and Dina Islambekova (+80 kg) advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.
The second stage of the World Boxing-2026 World Cup is taking place in Guiyang, China, from June 15 to 21, with 333 athletes from 44 countries participating. A total of 20 sets of medals (ten each for men and women) will be awarded. Kazakhstan's team is represented by 17 athletes.