The Moldovan boxers start to compete for quota places for the Rio Olympics. The national boxing team travelled to Turkey to take part in the first Olympic qualifying tournament, IPN reports.

Moldova will be represented by one woman and nine men boxers. Among the male pugilists, the best known are 2008 bronze medalist Veaceslav Gojan and the only participant in the last world championships Dumitru Galagot. “We hope we will qualify because we are in good shape. I’m sure that at least one of us can earn qualification for the Olympic Games,” stated Veaceslav Gojan.

The other seven boxers are: Platanovschi, Rascan, Bucsa, Belous, Sarbu, Constantinov, and Zavatin. To qualify for the Olympics, the Moldovans boxers must rank third at least. The athletes who will not qualify in the Turkey tournament will be able to struggle for quota places at another competition, in Azerbaijan, in June. There, the pugilists must finish among the first five.

The Moldovan boxers took part in all the Olympic Games starting with 1996. Vitalie Grusac (2000) and Veaceslav Gojan (2008) achieved the best results, winning by a bronze.