Bulgaria's Olympic champion boxing coach Petar Lesov was yesterday barred from ringside in the ongoing women's World Championship, while his ward Stanimira Petrova accused judges of corruption after a hard-fought pre-quarter-final loss to India's Sonia Chahal (57kg). On a dramatic day, a judging controversy hit the marquee event after former gold-medallist Petrova pointed a finger at the officials and her coach threw a bottle inside the ring after the bout to protest the result.

The Bulgarian, 27, who was a bantamweight (54kg) gold-medallist from the 2014 edition of the event, went down in a split 2-3 verdict to the local boxer. "This is corruption by the judges. It is not a fair result," she told reporters. The International Boxing Association (AIBA), after a review of the incident by its technical delegate, barred Lesov from ringside for the remainder of the tournament, which concludes on November 24.