Bantamweight (50-54 kilograms), Women

This was a new division for women, with weight limits of 50-54 kg. China’s Chang Yuan was the Summer Youth Olympic champion from 2014 in the flyweight division but, as the eighth seed, was not expected to win this division. She started with a comfortable unanimous points victory over Ireland’s Jennifer Lehane, however, and came up against the 2014 World Champion and top seed in Bulgarian Stanimira Petrova, competing in her third Olympics. In a hard-fought contest, Yuan emerged as the winner on a 4-1 split decision.

Yuan’s semi-final against reigning Asian Games winner from 2022, Pang Chol-Mi of DPR Korea, was an even closer affair, Yuan emerging the winner on a 3-2 decision. Her final opponent was unseeded Hatice Akbaş of Turkey, the reigning World Champion from 2022, who was defeated comfortably by a unanimous decision, four of the five judges giving Yuan all three rounds. Akbaş had reached the final with a split 3-2 decision over Korean Im Ae-Ji in the semi-final.