ENGLAND’S Sacha Hickey will return from this year’s Strandja memorial tournament with gold after she was crowned light-welterweight champion on the final day of action in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Hickey is one of the four GB Boxers to be leaving the competition with a medal as Dione Burman (66kg), Dimeji Shittu (80kg) and Damar Thomas (92+kg) all earned bronze.
The gold for Hickey is the second she’s earned in Sofia in just a matter of months after also being clinching the top spot on the podium at the U23 European Championships back in October of last year.
Hickey’s decisive victory came against Italy’s Paris 2024 Olympain, Angela Carini via a 4:1 split in what was a confident display beyond her years.
On her way to the 63kg final, she put in similarly impressive performances against Ireland’s Linda Desmond (4:0) and Turkey’s Polat Berfin (4:1).
Elsewhere, Dimeji Shittu was in with a chance of joining his teammate in his respective final (80kg) when he was involved in a closely fought encounter with Kazakhstan’s Yerassyl Zhakpekov until he suffered a shoulder injury in the second which forced him to be withdrawn before the end of the contest.
Similarly, Damar Thomas after winning both of his opening bouts was scheduled to face fellow Kazakh Aibek Oralbay at super-heavyweight but was withdrawn before the bout as an injury precaution.
Lastly, in the women’s welterweight semi-final, Dione Burman was defeated unanimously by Turkey’s Kabak Berfin.
