Jennie Andersson, Eliar Kolomoichenko, Janette Vilen and Mitja Hellen all kept the gold medals of the Pirkka Tournament on home soil in the city of Tampere.
The city of Tampere is the host of the Pirkka Tournament this May but the local Tampere Boxing Association will arrange the famous Tammer Tournament for the elite women and men boxers later this year.
Tampere hosted the 1993 edition of the Men’s World Boxing Championships and also the European Boxing Championships in the year of 2000.
Boxers from the U19, U17, U15 and U13 age groups were eligible to participate in the Pirkka Tournament this year.
The bout of the day
The 16-year-old Jennie Andersson won the recent TUL Tournament in Finland two months ago and the local U17 boxer continued her winning path in Tampere as well. She had a strong start against Neea Pietilae and she had the advantage on the judges’ scorecards after the first round. Andersson still controlled the second period but Pietilae made a fantastic comeback in the third round with heavy punches. Andersson was tired in the final two minutes but she could keep the victory in this tight 63kg final bout.
The surprise of the day
Finland’s Eliar Kolomoichenko achieved a silver medal at the Nordic Boxing Championships this March and after that event, he moved back to the 65kg weight class. Finland’s U19 boxer had a tough and experienced Norwegian rival in the final of the Pirkka Tournament, Rene Alejandro Myhre and he managed to win that close bout by split decision.
The Round-up
Janette Vilen, the participant in the recent European U19 Boxing Championships in Ostrava, eliminated Helmi Tikkanen in the semi-finals of the women’s 54kg weight class on Day1. The 18-year-old talent, Finland’s No.1 in the U19 age group, had some difficulties in the first round of the final against Ida Tapaninen, but she stepped into the gas in the second. Vilen looked more confident after the first break and she earned the gold medal of the Pirkka Tournament.
Norway sent a strong team to the Pirkka Tournament and their Linda Aelia Farah had the full focus during her final to take the title of the women’s 57kg. The Norwegian controlled the second and third rounds well enough to beat Finland’s Vilja Kilpi therefore she became the next winner in the U19 age group. Farah is aiming for a place in the national team to represent Norway in the upcoming top U19 competitions.
Vilde Elisabeth Nostdahl is another Norwegian U19 talent who had strong motivation in the Pirkka Tournament to show her upgraded technical skills. The Norwegian boxer won all of the three rounds against Finland’s Riga Ladies Boxing Cup bronze medallist Jenny Westman and she earned the title of the 60kg.
Estonia’s U15 Champion Rolan Sigajev proved in the Pirkka Tournament but he is not only a talented boxer but he has the strong heart to win close bouts as well. The U15 boxer eliminated Fajer Ghazali in the semi-finals of the 48kg weight class and he continued the same attacking style of the boxing against Dominic Nurmi of Finland. The referee counted Nurmi in the second round which guaranteed Sigajev’s gold medal in Tampere.
The Welsh U19 boxers shined in the 60kg weight category at the U19 age group as two of their talents claimed the titles. The local organizers had to divide the participants of the 60kg into groups due to the high number of participants in Tampere. Firstly, Shane McIntyre was slightly better than Sweden’s Ruohin Isak Abdul-Wahab, secondly, the next Welsh boy, Kian Thomas was too smart for Finland’s Oliver Viikari.
Arto Zelenski, Veini Hintzell, Amos Tuomainen, Alvar Nikula and Mitja Hellen all won tight U19 finals in Tampere and kept the gold medals of their divisions on home soil. Hellen defeated Ramses Upshaw in the last final of the Pirkka Tournament despite that he was exhausted in the third round.