Latvia’s Romans Iljins, Lithuania’s Simonas Puniskis, and Germany’s Dietrich Hermann won the best finals at the 21stedition of the Danas Pozniakas U19 Youth International Boxing Tournament in Vilnius, Lithuania today.
Armenia, Czechia, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, host Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, and Ukraine were the participating nations in the event. Among them Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Germany earned at least one title in the city of Vilnius.
Boxers who were born in 2008 or in 2009 were eligible to participate in the 21st Danas Pozniakas Youth Tournament.
The bout of the day
Latvia’s next finalist, Romans Iljins dominated his quarter-final bout against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Sychevskyi and he eliminated Lithuania’s promising Arturas Majauckas in the last four. The Latvian southpaw focused on his defence and he tried to find the best angles in the attacks against Lithuania’s European Junior Championships competitor Giedrius Bacianskas. After the tactical first round, Iljins was more punctual in the exchanges, and he bagged Latvia’s second gold medal in Vilnius.
The surprise of the day
Lithuania’s Dovydas Kerpe eliminated one of the favourites of the 60kg, Czechia’s Dorian Kropog in the semi-finals and he met Simonas Puniskis for the title of the Danas Pozniakas. Kerpe was not only taller than his compatriot but he landed quicker punches from his safest distance in the first round. Kerpe’s hooks were dangerous but Puniskis found the best range in the second and his jabs landed in the target area. The final verdict was depended on their performance in the last round when Puniskis’ activities guaranteed for him the success.
The Round-Up
Lithuania’s Vitas Bytautas and Poland’s Szymon Griszyn met in the first final of the Danas Pozniakas Tournament in Vilnius. The Polish southpaw looked more active than his Lithuanian opponent and he had the advantage on the judges’ scorecards. Griszyn was not exhausted in the last round, he launched quicker actions than Bytautas and he celebrated a well-deserved success at the 50kg weight class.
Moldova’s Damian Grisman eliminated Ukraine’s Matvey Kolupay and the European Junior quarter-finalist Mateusz Adamski during his road to the final of the 55kg. Grisman’s final opponent was Latvia’s Denys Bulchenko, a taller opponent, who tried to keep the Moldovan on long from the first seconds. Grisman was patient in all of the three rounds but Bulchenko’s long-distance tactics worked better today and the Latvian earned the gold medal in Vilnius.
Poland’s southpaw Aleksander Sikora and Lithuania’s Edvin Drutel met in the final of the 85kg weight class which was the fourth bout in the session. The taller Polish used his jabs to stop Drutel’s attacks but the Lithuanian was faster in the exchanges to reach Sikora. The local boxer reduced the fighting distance successfully in most of the actions and he claimed Lithuania’s next gold medal on home soil.
Lithuania’s Lukas Petraska eliminated Poland’s Samuel Kulik in the first semi-final of the 70kg and he met another Polish talent, Kewin Trukawka, for the title. The European U19 Championships competitor Lithuanian landed nice left-handed punches in the first round but Trukawka worked more from the second to win their meeting.
Following Matas Naumcev’s success over his teammate, Kajus Bogusis, one of the most anticipated final was held at the 80kg. Germany’s European U19 quarter-finalist Dietrich Hermann had strong performance in the entire competition, and he had the same strategy against Armenia’s No.1 in this age group, the European Youth Champion Samvel Siramargyan. The 18-year-old German used his longer reach perfectly in many of the exchanges and his physical advantages decided their final bout.