PARIS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The third day of boxing at the Paris Olympics was filled with excitement as well as drama, as favorites reached the quarterfinals and top two seeds in the men's 92kg were both eliminated in the preliminaries.
China's Yang Wenlu, top seed in the women's 60kg, was the first winner of the day, beating Vietnam's Ha Thi Linh 5-0 with powerful punches.
"When I'm in a good state, the ring is like my home turf where nobody can challenge me, as I am the King," said Yang, the 33-year-old Olympic debutante, who aims to claim a gold this summer.
Yang's main rivals, Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Kellie Harrington of Ireland and silver medalist Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil, downed their respective opponents.
"Gold is the mother of all medals. In Tokyo, I was so well-trained for the Olympics, and I was hoping for gold. I fell one step short with a silver, but now I am ready to take the next step and get the gold medal," said the 31-year-old Ferreira.
Major upsets unfolded in the men's 92kg event, where No. 1 seed Joshua Edwards of the United States was knocked out 3-1 by 2023 European Games champion Diego Lenzi of Italy. Meanwhile, the group's No. 2 seed Delicious Orie of Britain was downed by the unseeded Davit Chaloyan of Armenia.
"I felt like I had all of Italian boxing on my shoulders, but this also gave me the strength to hang in there, to grit my teeth and beat a great athlete like the American. I am happy and in my next match, I'll do even better, I am sure. We aim straight towards the semifinal," said Lenzi.
