Scotland’s Aaron Sarwar, Romania’s Ionut Madalin Calugar, Montenegro’s Matija Roganovic and Hungary’s Gyula Bozai were the heroes of the fifth session at the European U19 Boxing Championships Loznica, Serbia.
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 day
Scotland’s Aaron Sarwar began boxing only five years ago and he had a few difficult moments against England’s Brayden Dyer in the first round of the 50kg meeting. The Scotsman was better in the second round and he made an outstanding last period to turn back their contest. The referee counted the English boy two-times in the third round and Sarwar made a stormy comeback to win their Round of 16 meeting.
The surprise of the day
Serbia’s No.1, the Loznica-based Pavle Popovic met another European Junior Champion, Armenia’s Tigran Kirakosyan in the Round of 16 of the men’s 50kg. The 17-year-old Serbian moved forward from the first seconds and he felt the support of the local boxing fans in Loznica. Both boxers worked harder in comparison to their last fight and surprisingly the Armenian won their close meeting by 3:2 split decision.
The Round-Up
Eva Khlgatyan competed mostly in the national level events but she received the right to participate in the European U19 Boxing Championships. The Armenian southpaw landed effective counter-punches in the first round Belarus’ Sofya Arlova and she had the advantage in all of the judges’ scorecards after three minutes. The Armenian continued in the same way, she caught Arlova with jabs and she advanced to the Round of 16 of the women’s 54kg weight category.
The Georgians invested a lot of efforts to develop women’s boxing in the previous years and they have now strong options in the younger age groups. Their Nino Bekauri gained the control of her opening bout against Finland’s Janette Vilen and she he the advantage on the scorecards after one round. The Georgian had the footwork and the speed to avoid the attacks of the Finnish boxer which efforts were successful in all of the three rounds.
England’s Jaya Kalsi is one of the main favourites at the women’s 54kg weight category and she opened her long road to the final today. The 17-year-old English overcame Scotland’s Rosie Swailes in the attacks therefore the judges favoured her after three minutes. Kalsi had a flexible strategy today, and her unpredictable movements were too much for the Scottish youngster today.
Croatia’s Lorena Horvat, a former European medallist won the first Round of 16 contest at the women’s 70kg weight category when she outpointed her Polish rival, Zuzanna Skalimowska. England’s Shannon Warren claimed a bronze medal in the last edition in Ostrava therefore her target is the gold this time in this weight class. The 18-year-old English bowed out the first boxer out of her road, Ukraine’s Miroslava Kyryliuk with dominance today.
Russia’s 17-year-old Evgenia Zelenova achieved only a bronze medal in their Junior National Championships last year but the Krasnoyarsk-based athlete has more than four years of ring experience. Following her great combinations, the referee counted her opponent, Greece’s Athina Pozidou and she took the lead on the scorecards. The Russian was too strong for the Greek opponent and she finished the job in the second round to join the quarter-finals at the women’s 70kg.
Bulgaria’s Oktay Nazifov is not the most experienced in their U19 national team yet but he exceeded all of the expectations with his rhythm in the first round. The young Bulgarian shocked Ukraine’s Denys Demenko and the Hungarian referee counted his opponent, and he made that strong effort also in the second. The Ukrainian did not give up and he mobilized all of his power to turn back this Round of 16 contest with a fantastic last round.
Ireland’s European U17 Champion Kristina Jubani will turn 17 only later this year but he is such an amazing talent in this sport and one of the gold medal contenders at the men’s 50kg weight category. Jubani was a hard target for Hungary’s Laszlo Papai and his impressive speed advantage guaranteed a massive advantage on the scorecards after two rounds. The Hungarian moved forward more in the second part of the bout but Jubani’s footwork was strong enough to win this bout unanimously.
Russia’s Daniil Sokolik had a tight advantage after one round when he met Romania’s Ionut Madalin Calugar, the bronze medallist from the European U17 Boxing Championships. The Romanian got the best instructions in the first break and he changed his tactics mostly to counter-attacking style. The Romanian followed the advices and he turned back their 50kg bout with superb performance in the second and third rounds.
Georgia’s Zurab Oboladze earned several medals in top events and he started with a success in Loznica on Day1. The Georgian was not enough shape in the first round against Turkey’s Selcuk Efe Senturk but he changed his strategy in time to turn back their contest at the 85kg. Belarus’ Nazar Stalchuk delivered the next amazing performance in this weight class, he stopped Romania’s Vlad Pustai with heavy shots.
Montenegro’s European U17 Champion Matija Roganovic shocked his opponent in the first round, he knocked down Ukraine’s David Kurskyi which determined the entire bout in their 85kg preliminary. Roganovic made the show in the third round and he stopped his Ukrainian opponent with powerful combinations. Hungary’s Gyula Bozai also won his second contest in Loznica in the same way as Roganovic, he stopped Armenia’s Tigran Sargsyan while Spain’s Samuel Antezana and Croatia’s Niko Goreta also joined the last eight.