The heroes of the Olympic Games and the recent European Games as Italy’s Irma Testa and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak both returned with victories at the 63rd Belgrade Winner Tournament in Obrenovac on Day2.
The Belgrade Winner Tournament is one of the oldest international competitions in the entire world, next to the Strandja Memorial, the Bocskai Memorial, the Golden Gloves and the Bornemissza Tournament.
The bout of the day
Serbia’s European Games silver medallist Natalia Shadrina and South Korea’s Asian Games winner Oh Yeon Ji met in a hectic quarter-final contest at the women’s 60kg. Both boxers were born in 1990, they have hundreds of bouts in all levels of boxing and their rhythm was also similar today. The ex-Russian Shadrina moved more ahead and she found the best attacking angles to win their top level of the quarter-final in Belgrade.
The surprise of the day
Turkey’s Ece Asude Ediz competed in the European U23 Boxing Championships, the Islamic Solidarity Games and also at the Strandja Memorial Tournament but she was not the favourite against Serbia’s Jelena Zekic. The Turkish girl exceeded the expectations with her stamina and due to her impressive finish, she was able to win their 57kg quarter-final.
The Round-Up
Spain’s Boxam Tournament winner Mariana Soto was not only taller than Greece’s Ioanna Martini, but she had the advantage in speed and strength as well. The referee counted the Greek girl in the first round and the Spaniard had the massive advantage on the judges’ scorecards. Martini moved forward a lot but Soto’s footwork was world-class today and she eliminated her Greek rival by large margin of difference at the women’s 65kg.
Serbia’s Anastasija Boskovic is a young talent in the national team who has been focusing to the upcoming major championships. The Serbian used her height advantage against Greece’s Despoina Makri in the first round of their 65kg fight and she tried to keep her opponent on long. Boskovic felt the distance in all of the three rounds and she advanced to the semi-finals of the Belgrade Winner Tournament.
Philippines’ Paul Julyfer Bascon eliminated a Hungarian opponent on Day1 while his quarter-final challenge, Spain’s Carlos Bernad had a RSC success yesterday. The Filipino increased his tempo in comparison to the first bout and he found the best distance in the first round to beat his Spanish opponent at the men’s 60kg.
Serbia’s Tokyo Olympics quarter-finalist Nina Radovanovic is one of the best 51kg boxers in Europe with plenty of experiences from the major championships. She was a hard target for the Turkish boxer in all of the three rounds and Kilicci was counted in the closing period therefore Radovanovic managed her pathway to the semi-finals on home soil.
Serbia’s Dmitry Gorbenko is one of the aces in the men’s national team and he used his excellent hooks to stop Saudi Arabia’s Mousa Alhawsaw. The Serbian boxer liked the fighting style in their quarter-final bout which was approved by the Saudi but Gorbenko was better in that games. Alhawsaw proved his strong development, he was competitive today but Gorbenko had the routine to handle the Saudi pugilist.
Bulgaria’s European U23 Championships silver medallist Viktorio Iliev is better and better from competition to competitions. The young talent was confident against Turkey’s Yigit Us and he controlled most of the exchanges in their quarter-final. Iliev is now a guaranteed medallist in Belgrade but he arrived to the event to take the gold medal of the men’s 65kg.
Philippines’ Riza Pasuit moved down to the 57kg weight class in the recent months and the Thailand Open Tournament winner was too experienced for Canada’s Development Team member, Victoria Vergos. The Filipino has been preparing for the Asian Games and she proved her medal potential on that event with her today’s performance.
Serbia’s Filip Dzida proved his impressive progress in the 2024 edition of the European U23 Championships and since then he also increased his level of boxing. Dzida had great technical skills, nice knowledge about the defence of the sport and he looked confident against Romania’s Daniel Grigorie. The Serbian gained the control in the first round and he kept that with full concentration until the last gong.
Italy’s No.1, the Olympic medallist and European Games winner Irma Testa is back on track, he returned after more than one and half year of break to the competitions. The Italian had some difficulties in the first round against Turkey’s Esmanur Lok but she found the distance in time to turn back their quarter-final at the women’s 60kg. Testa enjoyed her official comeback to the international events and she is looking forward her semi-final in Belgrade.
Montenegro’s Paris Olympian and multiple European Champion Bojana Gojkovic usually competes at the 57kg but she decided to participate at the 60kg in Belgrade this time. The Montenegrin had an impressive first round against Ukraine’s Anhelina Nekrasova and she was better in all aspects of boxing today.
Serbia’s Nikolina Gajic, the World bronze medallist, had a hard job against Greece’s Elisavet Konstantinidou but she had the right tactical responses in time to beat her rival at the women’s 70kg. South Korea’s Seon Su Jin, Ukraine’s Anastasia Taran and Serbia’s experienced Milena Matovic all won their quarter-final bouts by RSCs in his weight category.
Serbia’s Jovan Nikolic, the defending European Champion, opened his campaign at the men’s 75kg weight class in the second day of boxing and he had a well-talented 19-year-old Hungarian opponent, Sandor Varadi. The Hungarian teenager has just moved down to this weight category and he was competitive but Nikolic had the routine and the strength to win this quarter-final bout.
Ukraine’s Olympic Champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak had a rest after Paris and he decided to return in the Belgrade Winner Tournament. The 31-year-old Ukrainian used the same style of boxing as in the last decade and his pressure was too much for Turkey’s Emre Parlak in their quarter-final at the 80kg. He caught his Turkish opponent with heavy punches and he finished the job in the third round when the referee stopped the bout.
Kazakhstan’s Nurzat Ongarov has just won the Temirov U23 Tournament in his homeland but the Taraz-based boxer was ready to his next challenge in Belgrade immediately. The 20-year-old boxer proved his strong potential against Italy’s Alessio Camiolo, dominating all of the three rounds at the men’s 50kg.
Serbia’s Ljubisa Staletovic moved back to the 50kg and he had the enthusiastic performance to beat Ukraine’s Ruslan Bednychenko in the quarter-final. His teammate, the more experienced Artur Nagapetian was unstoppable for another Ukrainian, Oleksandr Zvieriev at the men’s 55kg today.