The first session of the European U19 Boxing Championships opened with 24 contests in Loznica, Serbia where 354 boxers from 36 nations are participating for the medals.
Boxers who were born in 2008 and in 2009 are eligible to participate in the European U19 Boxing Championships in Loznica.
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine are the participating nations in Loznica.
The bout of the day
Azerbaijan’s European U17 Champion Gular Huseynova tried to gain the immediate control from the first seconds against Serbia’s Natasa Lukic and she used her distance better than the local athlete. The referee counted the Serbian in the second round following the strong actions from the 17-year-old Azeri boxer therefore Huseynova had the massive advantage on the judges’ scorecards. Huseynova still increased her tempo in the third round and she won the opening bout of the entire European U19 Boxing Championships. Huseynova’s next opponent in the last eight of the women’s 51kg will be Hungary’s European Junior silver medallist Patricia Petriman.
The surprise of the day
Slovakia has a fantastic U19 team with several top talents and their Dominika Vnukova opened their campaign against her neighbour, Nicole Kalemba of Poland. The Slovakian landed strict jabs in the first and second rounds and despite her height disadvantage, she worked mostly from longer distance. The Poznan-based Polish received several punches from the Slovakian side but her final round was so impressive that she can make a strong U-turn to win their close bout by 3:2 split decision.
The Round-Up
England’s Serena Mali claimed already medals in the previous editions of the European Boxing Championships and she was so focused in the first round against Romania’s Iasmina Georgiana Moraru. The English landed a powerful punch in the opening minute which was a strong decision-making action to underline that she is better today. Mali used her height advantage effectively in the second and third rounds to finish this 51kg bout before the final gong in Loznica.
Slovakia’s Karolina Kollarova, the defending European U17 Champion, tried to find the best fighting range against Turkey’s Pinar Elcik in the first round but her opponent had a brave strategy. The taller Slovakian outpointed the Turkish athlete in the second part of the contest and with her excellent finish, Kollarova secured her place in the quarter-finals of the women’s 60kg weight category.
Germany’s Xenia Scharapinski dictated the tempo against Hungary’s Nora Illes and the referee counted her rival twice already in the first round. The German felt that she has the potential to finish their contest in the second and Scharapinski won their meeting by RSC. England’s next ace, Lexie Walker used her opener as a warm-up for the later actions against Georgia’s Lika Bukia and she also managed her path to the quarter-finals at the 60kg.
Lithuania’s Migle Griskonyte had a tight success over Ukraine’s Viktoria Rosetska in the next contest of the women’s 60kg weight category and Italy’s favourite, the 17-year-old Rachele Perna defeated Israel’s Malak Fashfsha. Greece’s Paraskevi Tsakalelli exceeded all of the expectations in her opening bout against Poland’s Antonina Biniecka and she also advanced to the quarter-finals in this busy weight category.
Serbia’s Dunja Vuksic is one of the best hopes in their U19 female national team who had the strong motivation in the first round to beat Hungary’s Eszter Toro. The Hungarian claimed a gold medal at the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina U19 Tournament in Serbia less than two months ago but she could not adopt the rhythm of this bout at the 65kg. Vuksic won the first and second rounds in all of the judges’ scorecards and she saved some fuel for the later actions in the third.
The Russians returned to the level of the European Boxing Championships following the approval of the International Olympic Committee, then the World Boxing. Their Ksenia Ovechkina eliminated Armenia’s Hamest Afrikyan at the 51kg, Ekaterina Nesvetayeva was too strong for Romania’s Mirela Elisa Cojocaru, while Bella Zuyeva also stopped her Polish opponent in the first session.
Hungary’s Laszlo Papai lost his first contest at the European U17 Boxing Championships in Kienbaum, Germany last December but he proved his strong progress today among the U19s. The Hungarian not only controlled the first round against the tall Ronen Omelchenko of Israel but the referee stopped his opponent twice. Papai finished the job in the second round after the third standing count and he celebrated his 17th birthday with a clear RSC success today.
Georgia’s Shalva Beridze is only 17-year-old but he has already more than 140 bouts during his career and the tall boxer not only used his longer reach against Greece’s Rafail Vasilopoulos but he had the advantage in terms of physical skills as well. Beridze was faster than the Greek athlete and he used up all of the angles to decide their contest in the Round of 32 of the men’s 50kg.