Montenegro’s Ema Hot won one of the tightest contests at the 10th edition of the World Nations’ Junior Cup in Vrbas, Serbia during the third session of the event.
Boxers who were born in 2010 and in 2011 are eligible to participate in the U17 part of the Junior Nations Cup in Vrbas, Serbia this year, while athletes from the younger 2012 and 2013 age groups are attending in the U15 level.
The U15 and U17 boxers have a busy year in 2026 and the World Junior Nations’ Cup is another top international event for them.
The World Junior Nations’ Cup provides a fantastic opportunity for this age group to prepare well to the upcoming European U17 Boxing Championships which will be held in Budva, Montenegro on October 1-11, additionally to Türkiye’s event, the European U15 Boxing Championships as well.
The bout of the day
Montenegro has been preparing for the European U17 Boxing Championships with full speed to show their progress on home soil this October. The U17 squad contains strong weapons and their new female hope, Ena Hot, also worked hard to accomplish her next goal in Vrbas. Hot has her boxing idol in her homeland, the Olympian Bojana Gojkovic, and she followed the similar strategy in the event to beat Serbia’s Viktorija Jovic at the 57kg. Hot turned up the heat in the third round and she mobilized all of her leftover power to beat the local Serbian in the top fight of the session.
The surprise of the day
Serbia’s Aksentije Pejic and Vukasin Kljajic both are members of the U15 national squad who had not only a final in the event but a selection bout for the later international actions. Pejic knew after two rounds that he still needs a perfect final period to beat his compatriot and he has done enough to win the 50kg.
The Round-up
Serbia’s Nina Damjanovic competed at the traditional Bornemissza Memorial Tournament in Hungary at the end of May and she was ready to participate in the next international event immediately. The 14-year-old Serbian girl was too smart for Anja Pudja and she controlled all of the three rounds at the 48kg weight class.
England’s Kiyan Iqbal is one of the youngest U15 boxers in the World Junior Nations’ Cup but he amazed in the 37kg weight class in Vrbas. The English boy found the best rhythm against Serbia’s Ostoja Drulovic in the first round and he had the next tournament success during his career.
Montenegro reached several excellent results this year especially in the U17 and the elite competitions but their new U15 talents also shined in Serbia. Nikola Ilic is their next ace in the national team who had a strong strategy to beat Serbia’s Gavrilo Savic at the 57kg weight category, in another hectic fight.
Azerbaijan’s U17 pride, Aydin Shahbazov had the confidence to beat Serbia’s Amar Vehapi in semi-final of the 46kg and he secured his place in the final. Azerbaijan’s technician boxer will be meeting for the gold medal Kazakhstan’s experienced Bekzat Magzhan who eliminated Hasrat Mammadov in a tight contest.
Montenegro’s Strahinja Mrdak also competed at the Bornemissza Memorial Tournament two weeks ago and he was ready to show his skills again without any rest after the Hungarian event. The 16-year-old Montenegrin controlled his semi-final over Azerbaijan’s Eljan Musazada and he delivered one of the top performances in the session.