The Heydar Aliyev Cup for the U17 female and male boxers are underway at the Baku Boxing Center in Azerbaijan. Georgia’s duo as Hasan Akpinar and Zaza Mdinaridze, additionally Aysel Farajova and Moldova’s Egor Cherticovtsev all advanced to the next round.
Boxers from the 2010 and 2011 age groups are eligible to participate in the Heydar Aliyev Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan which is another traditional event and it was named after Mr. Heydar Aliyev who served Azerbaijan as President of the State between 1993 until his death in 2003.
The Heydar Aliyev Cup is a preparation event for the European U17 Boxing Championships which will be held in Budva, Montenegro on October 1-11.
The bout of the day
Georgia’s Hasan Akpinar claimed a bronze medal at the recent European U17 Boxing Championships and the 16-year-old boxer was named among the gold medal contenders at the Heydar Aliyev U17 Cup. The Georgian was not enough shape against Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Mustafayev in the first round but he received the right instructions in the break. Akpinar maintained the best fighting distance in time and he won one of the top bouts at the +80kg weight category in Baku.
The surprise of the day
Georgia’s Zaza Mdinaridze is a decorated pugilist at the boys’ 54kg weight class but he had a well-experienced opponent in the Round of 16, Shynggys Akhmetov of Kazakhstan. This weight category was named as the strongest ones in the entire Heydar Aliyev U17 Cup and the duo proved elite level of boxing during the preliminaries. The Georgian was slightly better in the exchanges in the decisive last round and he celebrated an emotional success in Baku.
The Round-Up
The women’s boxing is in strong progress in Azerbaijan and their girls claimed already titles and medals in the level of the European Boxing Championships. Their U17 boxers at the pinweight (46kg), such as Aysel Farajova and Aysan Miriyeva both won their meetings in the session against opponents from Kazakhstan and Georgia. Farajova’s success over Kazakhstan’s Diana Aitbayeva is one of her career highlights which was a close bout in the session.
Kazakhstan’s next participant at the women’s 46kg weight category in Baku, Diana Orazbekkyzy proved one of the strongest performances in the session. She controlled the first round over an individual athlete, Milana Belyankina, and she was able to keep the same rhythm until the last gong of their meeting.
Estonia’s Alissa Gerassimovits is their best female hope in this age group who walked over to the next stage of boxing against Azerbaijan’s Leyla Makhmudlu following her opponent was unable to box in the second session of the event. Tunja Murshudova, a local hope in the same 50kg weight class, eliminated Sevana Agali and she also joined to the next round, keeping her hopes alive.
Vera Didenko, an individual and independent boxer, returned to the international stage of boxing after a break and she made a remarkable performance in the session. The 63kg boxer overcame Azerbaijan’s Zokhra Imanova in the attacks and she won this bout by unanimous decision.
Georgia has a powerful U17 team and their girls are also in developing stage besides to the male boxers. Anastasia Chokoraia had strong preparation in the recent months and following their national activities, she had the enthusiasm in the competition as well. Chokoraia not only felt the distance from the first seconds against Azerbaijan’s Gulshan Rustamzadeh but she stopped her opponent still in the opening round at the 63kg.
Moldova’s European Schoolboys Champion Egor Cherticovtsev is a native talent in our sport and he joined the U17 age group this year. The super talented Moldovan had a tough opponent in the boys’ 54kg weight class, Azerbaijan’s Ali Ozjan but he managed his pathway to the quarter-finals in this busy division.
Latvia also sent a promising team to the Heydar Aliyev U17 Cup and their Silvestrs Vasilevskis eliminated a local hopeful, Abbasali Mammadli at the 54kg. Another key boxers, in this weight class such as Uzbekistan’s Iskandar Kadamboyev, Kazakhstan’s Bakdaulet Kuralbay and Georgia’s sensation, the European U15 Champion Giorgi Akhlvediani all marched to the quarter-finals at the 54kg weight category.