▪️As Yomna moved to the quarter-finals, six other African boxers including Algeria’s highly regarded Ichrak Chaib were sent packing
February 26, 2026
Egypt’s African Games bronze medallist Yomna Ayyad (pictured) saved Africa from further humiliation when she powered her way to the quarter-finals of the Strandja International Boxing Tournament on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Yomna beat Brazil’s Silva Rafaela Marques 4-1, and now meets tough Kazakhstan’s lightweight Rimma Volossenko in today’s quarter-finals.
A bantamweight bronze medallist at the 2023 African Games in Accra, Ghana, Yomna has now moved up to lightweight.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yomna, the first Egyptian female boxer to qualify for the Olympics, was disqualified failing to make the bantamweight category by 700 grams. She therefore returned home without throwing a punch. She was due to fight tough Uzbek boxer Nigina Uktamova.
Yomna was the only African winner among the seven boxers in action on Day 3 of the Strandja International on February 25, 2026.
Two-time African Championships gold medallist and Solidarity Games champion Ichrak Chaib of Algeria was one of the six African losers, going down 5-0 to Turkey’s Berfin Kabak at welterweight. In all, four Algerian boxers were defeated, adding more miseries to the North Africans’ team.
Results of the African boxers at the Strandja International Tournament:
Women’s lightweight
Egypt’s Yomna Ayyad outpointed Brazil’s Silva Rafaela Marques 4-1
Algeria’s Melissa Hamda was beaten 5-0 by Ukraine’s Veronika Korets
Men’s lightweight
Egypt’s Hossam Seifel Yazal lost 5-0 to Azerbaijan’s Mahammadali Ashiraliyev
Women’s welterweight
Algeria’s Ichrak Chaib was beaten 5-0 by Turkey’s Berfin Kabak
Men’s light-heavyweight
Algeria’s Mustapha Abdou was beaten 5-0 by Bulgaria’s William Cholov
Men’s super-heavyweight
Algeria’s Abderrahim Magtaa lost 4-1 to Bulgaria’s Yordan Morejoh
Men’s light-heavyweight
Egypt’s Fares Elsharkawi narrowly lost 3-2 to Ukraine’s Dzhamal Kaliiev
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