(NOV 22) (COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.)  - Three of the Team USA’s most decorated female athletes have secured a new piece of hardware for their trophy cases with quarterfinal wins on Friday at the Halla Gymnasium in Jeju, South Korea. 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas), reigning featherweight world champion Tiara Brown (Fort Myers, Fla.) and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) will all compete for a spot in the finals in Jeju on Sunday. Welterweight Danyelle Wolf (San Diego, Calif.), light heavyweight Heidi Henriksen (St. Louis Park, Minn.) and heavyweight Krystal Dixon (New Rochelle, N.Y.) each dropped their quarterfinal matches on Friday.

Shields was hoping for the chance to avenge her only career loss in today’s action but after her former foe lost in Thursday’s preliminary action, the 19-year-old Olympic champion was forced to settle for a match-up with Russia’s Iaroslava Iakushana. The American dominated the middleweight quarterfinal battle, winning every round on all three judges’ scorecard to move on to her first Elite World Championships semifinal round. She will face off with Canada’s Ariane Fortin in her fourth bout of the tournament at approximately 8:45 p.m. local time (6:45 a.m. ET) on Sunday. 

Esparza is returning to the semifinal round at the Women’s World Championships for the first time since her event debut in 2006. The first female American boxer ever to win a medal at the Olympic Games, Esparza clinched her berth in the medal round with a 2-0 victory over Turkey’s Elif Nur Coskun in their flyweight contest on Friday. Following a rest day on Saturday, Esparza will battle Brazil’s Clelia da Costa on Sunday at approximately 7:15 p.m. local time (5:15 a.m. ET) for a berth in the flyweight finale. 

For the second straight World Championships, Brown is vying for a spot in the featherweight finals. Only the third U.S. female boxer ever to win a world championship, Brown moved on to the semifinals with a 2-1 win over Chinese Taipei’s Wen Ling Chen in their quarterfinal contest. After two bouts in consecutive days, Brown will enjoy the off day on Saturday before facing the Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio at approximately 7:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET). 

After claiming two victories at the World Championships, Wolf fell by split decision to Azerbaijan’s Elena Vystrapova in their welterweight contest. Henriksen dropped her second bout of the tournament, losing a 3-0 decision to Ukraine’s Anastasia Chernolenko in their light heavyweight match-up. Dixon lost a 3-0 bout to Turkey’s Emine Bozduman in her tournament opener. 

As the 2014 Elite Women’s World Championships enters the off day in tournament competition, the United States is tied for third place in the team standings with three athletes advancing to the semifinal round. 

All of the tournament action is being live streamed at www.aiba.org. 

U.S. Results

112 lbs/51 kg: Marlen Esparza, Houston, Texas/USA dec. Elif Nur Coskun, TUR, 2-0

125 lbs/57 kg: Tiara Brown, Fort Myers, Fla./USA dec. Wen Ling Chen, TPE, 2-1

152 lbs/69 kg: Elena Vystrapova, AZE, dec. Danyelle Wolf, San Diego, Calif./USA, 2-1

165 lbs/75 kg: Claressa Shields, Flint, Mich./USA dec. Iaroslava Iakushana, RUS, 3-0

178 lbs/81 kg: Anastasia Chernolenko, UKR, dec. Heidi Henrkisen, St. Louis Park, Minn./USA, 3-0

178+ lbs/81+ kg: Emine Bozduman, TUR, dec. Krystal Dixon, New Rochelle, N.Y./USA, 3-0