Watts, winner of the lightweight title at Glasgow 2014, proved too strong for Mavzuna Chorieva of Tajikistan to keep her dream of an Olympic berth alive.

The top two in each of the women's categories will secure qualification for this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist Mary Kom of India is into the last four in the flyweight division, sweeping aside Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines with a unanimous victory.

Devendro Singh Laishram, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist, continued the run of Indian wins as he outfought Chinese Taipei's Po-Wei Tu in the men’s light flyweight category.

World Championships bronze medallist Shiva Thapa maintained his presence at the tournament and clinched a hard-fought 2-1 triumph over Japan's Arashi Morisaka to make it to the last four.

The top seed in the light flyweight division, Rogen Ladon of the Philippines, managed to squeeze through to the next round despite a disappointing performance as he eked out an unconvincing victory in his clash with Japanese opponent Tosho Kashiwasaki.

Though the decision was unanimous, Ladon will have to put in significantly improved displays in the latter round of the competition if he is to book his place at this summer’s Games.

Former Asian champion L Sarita Devi of India could not replicate the success of her team-mates, however, losing to Vietnam's Luu Duyen by split decision.

Charly Suarez of the Philippines, who earned a silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, is one step closer to Rio 2016 as he accounted for Indian Dheeraj Rani in their lightweight quarter-final bout.

Suarez was again in excellent form and enjoyed a comfortable passage through to the semi-finals, reaching the last four by claiming a unanimous triumph over Rani.

Action in Qian’an is due to continue on Thursday (March 31) following a rest day tomorrow.