Philippines’ Carlo Paalam won the battle of the Olympic medallists during the semi-finals at the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands. Spain’s Marta Lopez del Arbol, Germany’s David Nwanya and Finland’s Ismail Umar all eliminated top boxers on their road to the finals.
Boxers four out of the five continents are participating in the 9th edition of the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands.
The live scoring of the Eindhoven Box Cup is available at the Boxerbase website: www.boxerbase.com while the strong international event also will use live streaming from all of the sessions on its Facebook page.
The Eindhoven Box Cup is a preparation event for the Commonwealth Games, the European Elite Boxing Championships and the Asian Games.
The bout of the day
Philippines’ Carlo Paalam and France’s Billal Bennama both claimed silver medals in the Olympic Games during their career but both returned this year to accomplish their goals. The taller French boxer started the first round better with his longer reach and he had the tight advantage on the judges’ scorecards. Paalam, who claimed a silver in Tokyo, received the right instructions in the break, he turned back the battle of the 1998 born boxers, and he joined the final of the tough 55kg.
The surprises of the day
Thailand’s Olympian Chuthamat Raksat, the two-times World medallist, eliminated Poland’s Nadia Formela in the quarter-finals and she was the favourite against Spain’s Marta Lopez del Arbol in their women’s 51kg. The Spaniard, who achieved a gold medal in the Bocskai Memorial Tournament in Hungary two months ago, exceeded all of the expectations and she defeated her Thai opponent in another top bout of the day.
France’s Mohamed Ounai is one of the new sensations in the elite national team who arrived to the venue of the Eindhoven Box Cup as the top gold medal contender of the men’s 65kg weight class. The French boxer had a hard tactical job against Finland’s Ismail Umar and the taller Nordic rival made a surprise with his punctual counter-attacks.
The Round-Up
Poland’s Natalia Niewiadomska has just joined the elite national team this January but the 19-year-old talent is a key boxer at the women’s 48kg. The Polish teenager had to meet in an important semi-final with her teammate, Marta Prill and she won their selection meeting in Eindhoven where her next rival will be Ukraine’s former World silver medallist Hanna Okhota for the title of the category.
Thailand’s next Asian Champion boxer, Natnicha Chongprongklang felt the distance better than Poland’s Angelika Krysztoforska and she joined the finals of the women’s 54kg weight class. The 22-year-old Thai will be boxing for the title of this category with Netherlands’ Gabriella Weerheim who eliminated France’s World bronze medallist Wassila Lkhadiri in a superb contest.
Netherlands’ next national team member, the 20-year-old Tara Vogels had the strong fighting spirit in her semi-final battle against Spain’s Andrea Cardenas and she is another finalist from the host nation’s squad. Vogels will have a world-class opponent for the title of the 57kg, France’s European Games winner and Olympian Amina Zidani.
Netherlands’ Youth World Champion Maud Van der Toorn used her longer reach well enough against Kenya’s Rosemarion Achieng Otieno to take the lead on the judges’ scorecards. The Kenyan boxer, who switched back from Germany to her roots, was highly competitive in the third round but the 21-year-old Dutch had enough advantage to win their semi-final meeting at the 60kg.
England’s two-time World Champion Amy Broadhurst returned to the competitions only this month after she gave birth to her son. England’s pride had to face with Thailand’s Olympic silver medallist Janjaem Suwannapheng which was another highlight of the day. Broadhurst had the pressure on the powerful Thai and she eliminated another star from the competition therefore she will now face Netherlands’ Aaliyah Hoppema for the gold medal.
Netherlands’ European Games quarter-finalist Luna Beeloo returned to the squad and she made her debut at the women’s 70kg during the Eindhoven Cup. The 23-year-old had a solid performance against Poland’s Aleksandra Cyrek and her teammate, Finn Bos also joined the finals of the men’s 70kg.
Nigeria’s Patricia Mbata had a hard road to the finals of the women’s 75kg weight category but she won her next big challenge on Day3. The All Africa Games winner had a better start than Canada’s World bronze medallist Viktoria Penney and her second round was also near to the perfect. The Nigerian eliminated a big name and she will now face Spain’s new hope, Alma Garcia for the title of the Eindhoven Box Cup.
England’s Isaac Okoh had a hard contest in the second day of boxing but he had an easier job in the semi-final of the men’s 90kg. The 23-year-old English had hard punches in the first exchanges and he knocked out Ukraine’s Ashot Kocharyan still in the opening round. Okoh’s final opponent will be Germany’s David Nwanya who had a surprise success over Belgium’s Olympian, Victor Schelstraete.
Bulgaria’s Kiril Georgiev shocked Ireland’s Willie-John McCartan in the semi-final of the super heavyweight and he made quick decisions on their meeting. After the second count, the referee stopped their bout which means that the Bulgarian will now face England’s No.2 in this weight, Matt Williams.