Following a brilliant first day of flyweight and lightweight action, the bantamweight preliminaries got Day Two underway at the 2016 AIBA Women’s World Championships in Astana on Friday afternoon.

In the pick of the early bouts, Ukrainian Snizhana Kholodkova looked in determined and aggressive mood against Britain’s Lisa Whiteside, but it was the Brit who landed more meaningful blows across the four rounds. Whiteside’s unanimous win sets up an exciting second-round contest with Bulgaria’s Stoyka Petrova, winner of a physical tussle with Turkey’s Busenaz Cakiroglu.

Australian featherweight Anja Stridsman won her opening bout against Croatia’s Sara Beram by TKO in the fourth round, after American Stalacia Leggett had earlier beaten Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang to score a second-round showdown with Italy’s top seed Alessia Mesiano.

“I’m pretty satisfied with my performance,” said Stridsman after her bout. “It’s good to get the first fight out of the way and feel what it’s like in there. She had a pretty awkward style so I tried to be patient, stay long off the jab and not rush into anything. I think I gained control of the rounds from the start but definitely felt more and more confident as the fight went on and I got used to her style.”

The biggest cheer of the afternoon was reserved for the first appearance from the Kazakh team, however, and light welterweight Zarina Tsoloyeva did not disappoint, delivering a solid win over Vietnam’s Thi Linh Ha. Tsoloyeva will now meet top seed Valentina Alberti in the second round.

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