Croatia, Italy, Ukraine, Montenegro, Algeria, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Japan, Kosovo and Afghanistan earned gold medals at the 24th edition of the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Talijan Memorial Tournament in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina today.
Bosnia & Herzegovina’s next international event gave the opportunity for the elite and U19 boxers to prepare well for the upcoming major championships.
The bout of the day
Montenegro’s Matija Roganovic made a fantastic result last December when he earned a gold medal at the European U17 Boxing Championships. He joined the U19 age group and their national team this January and the 17-year-old Montenegrin competed as many event as possible in the recent months. Roganovic prepared well to his final bout against Italy’s Luca Casarsa who returned to Bosnia & Herzegovina after one month. Montenegro’s pride used his great footwork to find the best angles against the experienced Italian and he won the 85kg final among the U19 boxers.
The surprise of the day
North Macedonia’s Alen Rustemovski competed in various international tournaments and championships during his career but he was not the favourite against Japan’s Asian Games silver medallist and Paris Olympian Shudai Harada today. The North Macedonian felt the tempo in their meeting and he looked also confident from the first exchanges to beat his outstanding Japanese opponent at the 60kg.
The Round-Up
Croatia’s Lorena Horvat won the opening U19 final of the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament against Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Emina Zrno. Italy’s trio as Tommaso Orlando, Daniele Fabi and Matteo De Micco earned gold medals in Sarajevo and the Ukrainians also amazed in the day of the finals once again.
Croatia’s Tokyo Olympian Nikolina Cacic was her nation’s best female boxer in the recent years and also the most successful one. After a few poor years, the currently 25-year-old Croatian returned to the international events in better condition and she accomplished her goal in the city of Sarajevo. Cacic had a promising Algerian opponent, Melissa Hamda, who also returned to her best category to the 57kg, therefore their final bout was highly anticipated. The Croatian moved forward more in comparison to her last international bouts and she earned a gold medal at the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament.
Ichrak Chaib, another excellent Algerian hopeful in the national team, moved down one category almost every year since she won a bronze at the 2022 Women’s World Boxing Championships. The 25-year-old Algerian is now a strong ace at the 60kg weight category and she proved her best performance with perfect timing in the final against Japan’s World Boxing Cup quarter-finalist Satsuki Yoshizawa.
Lithuania had great boxers in the women’s 75kg in the past and their current No.1, Iveta Lesinskyte earned a well-deserved title in the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament which could increase her confidence before the European Elite Championships. The Lithuanian, who competed already in the 2016 Women’s World Championships, enjoyed a unanimous points decision success against Croatia’s Lucija Scrbec.
Algeria’s Amine Zenaz had a surprise success in the semi-finals of the men’s 55kg weight class and he had another great performance to win the final against Japan’s U19 World Champion Fuma Kumamoto. His teammate from Algeria, Mustafa Abdou also invested plenty of efforts to take the title in Sarajevo where he succeeded over Albania’s 19-year-old Ahmed Koci at the 80kg.
The next Japanese finalist, Seiya Iwai outpointed his opponent for the title of the 65kg, Montenegro’s Danilo Markovic and he celebrated a well-deserved gold medal in Sarajevo. Kosovo’s Taulant Jakupi earned medals in European Championships during his career and the 22-year-old boxer defeated Albania’s Nika Useid at the elite 85kg final.
Afghanistan’s Silab Noori joined the national team in 2021 and he not only advanced to the finals of the men’s 90kg but he defeated Nigeria’s UK-based Kenneth Anigboro in a hectic contest. Lithuania’s Jonas Jazevicius finished his super heavyweight final quickly, he knocked out Algeria’s Abderrahim Magda in the first round.