Historic moments for Croatia, Serbia and Spain in the women’s semi-finals at the European U19 Boxing Championships in Loznica today.
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
England’s Lily Bassett is a multiple European Champion who demonstrated her amazing strength in the quarter-finals stage of the event and she ruled the middle of the ring against Russia’s Ksenia Vishnevskaya in the first round of their semi-final. The 17-year-old English, who won the World Boxing U19 Future Cup earlier this year, had a tight advantage on the judges’ scorecards after three minutes and she was never stopped attacking in the second. England’s No.1 proved her best performance in the third round therefore Bassett is ready to take her fourth European title against Ireland’s Ellen Joyce at the 48kg.
The surprise of the session
England’s Shannon Warren claimed a bronze medal in the last edition of the European U19 Boxing Championships in Ostrava last October and she joined the semi-finals of the women’s 70kg once again after her confident performance in the last eight. The 18-year-old English had a disadvantage on the scorecards against Croatia’s Lorena Horvat after the first round but she stepped into the gas in the second. Horvat found her best tempo once again in the decisive third round therefore she will be boxing for the title bout with Turkey’s Buse Nur Yazan.
The Round-Up
Ireland’s Kayleigh Byrne was a bronze medallist in the last edition of the European U19 Boxing Championships and she expected a difficult contest against Spain’s 17-year-old Andrea Buelga who eliminated England’s favourite in the last stage. The Irish tried to box from closer distance but Buelga landed her effective punches from all of the ranges therefore the Spaniard will now meet for the title Russia’s Ksenia Ovechkina who had a tight and lucky success over Hungary’s Patricia Petriman.
Russia’s ace in the women’s national team, Kristina Borisenko controlled the first round with perfect technician style of boxing and she took the advantage against Greece’s Sofia Ntiliou. She was a hard target for the Greek athlete in the third round and she saved also some fuels for the final of the women’s 54kg. The Russian will be boxing for her next European title with Lithuania’s Brandenburg U19 Cup winner Jelizaveta Jakimova who had a tight success over Sweden’s lone semi-finalist, Medina Zaman.
Spain’s second female semi-finalist Cristina Peinado had a meeting with Serbia’s Jovana Devetakovic who earned a silver medal at the recent Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Tournament on home soil. The Serbian is in much better shape in this competition in comparison to her previous appearance in the international stage and she joined the finals of the women’s 57kg weight class. Russia’s Anastasia Golunova had a close first round against England’s Siobhan Haley but after that she stopped her rival therefore she will now face Devetakovic for the title of the category.
Slovakia’s European U17 Champion Karolina Kollarova started the first round with strict jabs and she used her longer reach well against Russia’s Ekaterina Nesvetayeva. The 17-year-old Slovakian caught the Russian with a heavy right-handed jab in the second round and she had advantage on the judges’ scorecards after six minutes of fight. Slovakia’s best U19 boxer was dominant also in the third round therefore she has the chance to win her next European title against England’s Lexie Walker which will be the repeat final of the annual Portimao Box Cup.
Russia’s Bella Zueva and Ireland’s Grace Bailey both had great victories in their respective quarter-finals at the women’s 65kg. The smaller Russian choose the attacking strategy in the first round and she landed her punches from closer fighting range. Zueva felt the distance from the first seconds and her Irish opponent abandoned the unequal fight after the second round. Zueva will be meeting for the gold medal with Croatia’s Agata Stajcer who eliminated her Turkish rival out of her way.
Russia’s Daria Antipova used her powerful punches to take the control against Czech Republic’s Hanan Salmi in the first round and she took the lead on the scorecards. The Russian had a great final round which guaranteed for her a spot in the title contest of the women’s 75kg. Serbia’s Sonja Vuksic exceeded the expectations against England’s 2025 silver medallist Thabiso Moyo and she will now meet Antipova tomorrow.
Turkey’s Melisa Eroglu secured her nation’s second place in the final after beating Romania’s Elena Andreea Anghel in a tight contest at the 80kg. The Turkish boxer can expect a hard bout against Russia’s Ekaterina Frolova who stopped Estonia’s U17 runner-up, Melana Nelk. The exciting women’s +80kg final will be held between Russia’s Samira Itonieva and Ukraine’s Valeriia Rybchenko.