Silver medalist Yang Wenlu of China reacts during the victory ceremony of the women's 60kg boxing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug 6, 2024. [Photo/IC]

PARIS - Boxing moved to Roland Garros' iconic Court Philippe-Chatrier for the first night of finals in the competition on Tuesday as China's Yang Wenlu settled for silver against Kellie Harrington of Ireland in the women's 60kg final after falling to a split decision 4-1.

The first round saw both women go to the body, but it was the Irish athlete who looked cleaner with her punching, nullifying the Chinese movement and attempts to get on the inside.

In the close second, Yang continued to target Harrington's body and despite landing more clean shots than in the first round, she still could not convince the majority of the judges. Harrington strung together a few sharp combinations that snapped Yang's head back.

Down on the scorecards, Yang began to open up more in the third, looking for a spectacular finish to try and sway the judges or perhaps score a knockdown. Despite putting in better work, Harrington's defense mostly held firm.

Despite winning over the majority of the judges with her work in the final round, Yang could not secure the big punch or moment to swing the score in her favor. The scores of 29-28 on all the scorecards, with one scored in Yang's favor, reflected the closeness of the fight. On another day and with another set of judges, Yang might have scored better in the second and most pivotal round. However, Yang was unable to land enough clean shots to the head of the Irishwoman to convince the judges.

China's number one seed Wu Yu defeated Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in the women's 50kg semifinal via a comfortable split decision 4-1. In the first round, Kyzaibay fought on the front foot, advancing towards the Chinese, who was forced to fight off the back foot. Despite this, Wu was able to land a sweet right, straight counter after using sharp footwork to back off the ropes and throw on the exit. Wu's superior skill gave her the first round on four of the five judges' scorecards.

Kyzaibay became more desperate in the second, forcing the clinch to try and get a hold of the Chinese fighter, who was too fast and too fluid in her movement around the ring. Coming out in the third, the Kazakh required a knockdown or a very unlikely finish to secure the win with Wu already clearly ahead on three of the five scorecards. Despite a flurry of activity and shots at the start of the third, Wu was able to easily weather the storm and coast to the victory.

Wu will face Türkiye's Buse Naz Cakiroglu after she defeated Aira Villegas from the Philippines in the other semifinal.

China's Yang Liu came back from a poor first round to defeat Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien Chin in a split decision 4-1. Chen started more aggressively of the two, forcing Yang to retreat. The clinch-heavy first round was won by Chen on all the scorecards. In the second, Yang grew into the bout and began to land more shots in the clinch as well as catching Chen on entry. With everything to fight for in the final third round, both women increased their volume, but it was Yang who was more crisp and landed more consequential strikes.

Yang will face Algeria's Imane Khelif in the gold medal match. Backed by vociferous Algerian support, Khelif, who had been the "unfair" subject of controversy earlier in the tournament, won by unanimous decision against Thailand's Janjaem Suwannapheng. Although the Thai had superior speed, Suwannapheng could not overcome Khelif's superior strength and size, who won every round with every judge.

In the men's 71kg semifinals, American Omari Jones fell to Uzbekistan's Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in a split decision 3-2. The Uzbek southpaw fought on the outside and looked to counter the more aggressive American, using his footwork and fighting at range.

In the other semifinal, Marco Verde of Mexico defeated Lewis Richardson of Britain via split decision 3-2.