Serbia’s Jana Nataros and Slovenia’s Maik Stojnic won the tightest U17 contests at the Olympic Hopes Tournament in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
The Olympic Hopes Tournament is taking place for the U19, U17 and U15 age groups in Sarajevo, where several of the future hopes impressed in the first and second sessions.
Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Palestine, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates are participating in the competition in Sarajevo.
The bout of the day
Maik Stojnic claimed a bronze medal at the recent European U15 Boxing Championships in Budva last October and the Slovenian joined the U17 age group this January. Stojnic moved up to the 63kg weight class and he used his longer reach well enough to beat Italy’s Mattia Fabi in one of the top junior bouts of the day. The Italian caught the Slovenian a few times in all of the three rounds but Stojnic’s longer reach was enough to win this superb bout.
The surprise of the day
Azerbaijan’s Fatima Mammadli bagged a silver medal at the European Schoolgirls Boxing Championships and she was the main favourite at the women’s 50kg. The 15-year-old Azeri knew her opponent, Serbia’s Jana Nataros from U15 competitions but she was not able to keep the same speed in all of the three rounds. Mammadli moved up several categories this year and the Serbian adopted the level of the U17 boxers better in their bout in Sarajevo where the judges favoured 3:2 Nataros.
The Round-Up
Azerbaijan’s Aysel Farajova competed already in two editions of the European Championships and at the Commonwealth of Independent States Games as well. The strong Azeri boxer had to face with her teammate, Aydan Ismaili at the 48kg but she stopped her rival with heavy punches in the second round.
Romania’s Raian Nicolas Cola had a quick success over Bahrain’s Ameen Ibrahim at the 57kg weight category which was stopped by the referee in the first round. Ukraine’s Denys Snigur also landed stronger punches than his opponent at the 60kg, Palestine’s Atef Alshareef and his solid performance guaranteed a success for the 16-year-old.
Ajnur Memic has Bosnian roots but he represents Slovenia in the international stage and he had the strong opener in Sarajevo against a local boxer, Darin Tapolovic. The Slovenian had the advantage on the judges’ scorecards after two minutes of fight and he was able to keep the same rhythm until the last gong at the 60kg.
Bahrain sent their best young talents to the Olympic Hopes Tournament and this is their next return to the international events after the Middle East crisis. Their Mohamed Attia won all of the three rounds on the scorecards against Romania’s Eduard Marian Tangerica and he proved the next strong U17 performance in Sarajevo.
Serbia’s U15 national team member, Tadija Mitic had a successful mission against Croatia’s Luka Orec in the 40kg weight class. The next Serbian, Aksentije Pejic had some surprises in the previous Nations Junior Cup in Vrbas but this time he suffered a loss to Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Ajdin Skopljak.
Croatia’s European U15 competitor Maroje Stojanovic had a dangerous rival at the 63kg, United Arab Emirates’ Mukhammad Kitaev, but he managed to win the fight with his tactical repertoires. The Croatian is a strong member from their 2012 age group and he has huge potential also to earn medals in the next European U15 Boxing Championships.