Kristina Borisenko, Cristina Peinado, Shalva Beridze, Kristian Jubani, Ramil Hurbanau, and Bohdan Kozak all were confident in their quarter-finals at the European U19 Boxing Championships in Loznica.

Altogether 354 boxers from 36 nations are participating for the 20 titles and the 80 available medals in the European U19 Boxing Championships.

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 session

Romania’s Ionut Madalin Calugar eliminated a Russian opponent in the Round of 16 but he had to meet another favourite, Belarus’ Ramil Hurbanau. The Belarusian had an elegant style of boxing which was combined with speed therefore he enjoyed a comfortable advantage on the scorecards. The Romanian gave up his previous strategy and he had multiple attacks in the third round but Hurbanau had the advantage to win their exciting quarter-final.

The surprise of the session

Spain’s Andrea Buelga earned their nation’s first medal in Loznica and the 17-year-old Cristina Peinado also worked hard to catch Italy’s Martina De Felice in order to take a medal. The Spaniard had the footwork and the full focus in the first and second rounds to build up some advantages on the scorecards. Peinado did not make any big risks in the third round and she earned Spain’s second medal in the European U19 Boxing Championships.

The Round-Up

Bulgaria’s Margarita Parpulova had to wait for five days to compete in Loznica but she succeeded in her opener yesterday. The tall Bulgarian had the solid height advantage once again when she faced for the medal with Sofia Ntiliou of Greece at the women’s 54kg. The Patras-based Greek caught the Bulgarian with heavy punches in the first round and her strength decided their quick contest, earning a medal for her nation.

Russia’s strong southpaw, Kristina Borisenko is a multiple European Champion from the past and she had another remarkable performance against Ukraine’s Daria Liahotska at the women’s 54kg weight class today. The Russian found the best attacking positions and angles to land her shots from safest distance and her routine guaranteed a medal for her in this excellent quarter-final bout by RSC.

Georgia’s Nino Bekauri won already two bouts while Sweden’s best female hope, Medina Zaman had a successful opener just yesterday. The 18-year-old Swedish was slightly better in the exchanges in the first round and she took 3:2 lead on the scorecards. Zaman performed better from the second and she celebrated her first ever European medal which is a great achievement from Sweden.

Lithuania’s best hope in Loznica, Jelizaveta Jakimova was unstoppable yesterday and she had to meet another top opponent, England’s Jaya Kalsi today. The 18-year-old Lithuanian landed her punches from all of the directions and she was active from the first seconds until the very last. The English girl earned several medals in major championships but Jakimova was too strict and punctual today therefore Lithuania achieved a medal today.

England’s Siobhan Haley had a harder bout than she expected to take a medal in Loznica, but she used well her longer reach against Hungary’s European U17 silver medallist Zsofia Kiss to win this tactical meeting by 4:1 split decision. Serbia’s Jovana Devetakovic arrived to Loznica in top shape and she had the excellent game play against Greece’s Dimitra Kapsimali to take another medal for the host country.

Georgia’s Shalva Beridze and Armenia’s Tigran Kirakosyan knew each other from previous competitions and they have similar strategy for this quarter-final at the men’s 50kg. The 17-year-old Georgian was better in that chess game and his punches from longer range decided the quarter-final bout. Scotland’s Aaron Sarwar made stormy attacks and he defeated Ukraine’s Denys Demenko by RSC in the men’s 50kg division.

Ireland’s European U17 Champion Kristian Jubani and Azerbaijan’s Ali Aliyev had a similar fighting style and physical skills in their 50kg quarter-final bout. The Irish will turn 17 only later this year but he had the routine to keep the control against the Azeri boy in all of the three rounds. Aliyev tried to switch his strategy in the third but Jubani’s counter-attacks were effective and the Irish won the battle of the southpaw boxers.

England’s Rueben Huczmann won his third-in-a-row contest in Loznica, he outpointed Azerbaijan’s Nihat Gasimov in the first quarter-final of the men’s 55kg weight class. Russia’s Islam Magomedov had a harder job than he expected against Armenia’s Vahram Dovlatbekyan but the Makhachkala-based boxer managed his path to the semi-finals in this strong weight class.

Ukraine’s Bohdan Kozak was a hard target for Latvia’s Timurs Gulbis during the first quarter-final of the men’s 70kg weight category. The Ukrainian was well-prepared for this competition and the 17-year-old managed his way to the semi-finals, earning a medal once again and saved also power for the medal phase.

Akaki Basaria lost to Germany’s Yanis Heger in the Brandenburg U19 Cup last month but this time he made a revenge and the defending champion of the weight class is a semi-finalist in Loznica. Russia’s Egor Skarednev was more confident in his next contest for the medal, he eliminated Greece’s powerful Alexandros Tsaptzis in this 70kg.

Germany’s Justin Kiz was better rounds by rounds when he met Bulgaria’s Dzhan Fikret and due to his great finish, he earned the guaranteed medal at the 75kg. Ukraine’s Konstantyn Halytskyi had some difficult moments in the first 30 seconds against Belgium’s lone quarter-finalist, Sam Radfar but he adopted the rhythm of the contest to win their real fight.