Following the European U19 Boxing Championships, the next important competition in Europe is the Silesian Women’s Open Tournament in Poland. Serbia’s Jelena Zekic and Norway’s Sofia Stigen Sorensen won the hardest bouts, but England’s Olympian Charley Davison also returned with a victory and Sara Glaser’s KO also delighted the first day of boxing in Gliwice.
The international female competition is being held for the women’s elite, U19 youth and U17 junior boxers in Gliwice.
The Silesian Open Tournament is a preparation event for the European Elite Boxing Championships, the European U17 Boxing Championships, the World U19 Boxing Championships and the Asian Games.
The bout of the day
Serbia’s Jelena Zekic joined the elite competitions still back in 2018 and she earned several great international results during her career. The 27-year-old Serbian met one of the new French promising stars, the Youth World silver medallist Maloe Teresi in the first preliminary round of the women’s 57kg. The 19-year-old French was exceptional among the youth boxers and she proved her very best in Gliwice but Zekic had still the routine to handle all of the tactical tasks in their meeting.
The surprise of the day
Norway’s Sofia Stigen Sorensen claimed medals in the World Youth Championships and the European Youth Championships but she is still very young among the elite boxers. The 21-year-old Norwegian proved strong progress in this Silesian Women’s Open Tournament and she eliminated one of the top favourites, Poland’s Emilia Koterska at the 80kg.
The Round-Up
Hungary’s titleholder, Vivien Varga was a silver medallist at the 2025 edition of the European U15 Boxing Championships in Budva when she was only 13. The Hungarian has been preparing for the next European Championships and she looked in top shape in her opener at the Silesian Open. The 14-year-old girl controlled the first and second rounds against Germany’s Leana Wolf and she finished the job with RSC victory in the third, advancing to the semi-finals at the 54kg.
Nine boxers have registered at the women’s 48kg weight class in the U17 age group therefore two athletes as Hungary’s National Olympiad winner Zsofia Varadi and Poland’s U17 National Championships silver medallist Oliwia Goj had to start in the Round of 16. The Hungarian landed the better and stronger punches in their preliminary meeting and she joined the last eight in Gliwice.
Poland’s Oliwia Rogalinska is 25-year-old and she has nearly ten years of experience in the international stage of boxing. The Polish girl competed in several top championships as well and she had to box already in the first day in Gliwice. Rogalinska had the routine to handle all of the tactical jobs against Hungary’s European Junior medallist Sara Nyogeri, a 19-year-old newcomer among the elite boxers.
Czech Republic’s European medallist Lenka Bernardova returned to the world of boxing this year after giving birth to her son and she moved down to the 54kg weight class. The 25-year-old Czech not only controlled her contest against Poland’s Weronika Hodun but she stopped the rival in the second round.
Finland’s Golden Girl winner Teresa Maekinen returned to the international competitions also in top shape and she defeated England’s Bethany Walsh with attacking style of boxing. England’s two-time Olympian Charley Davison is also a returning boxer and she had the strong performance to beat France’s Aya Hamdi in the opening day of the event.
Ireland’s European U22 Champion Niamh Fay was too smart for Germany’s Moena Kildaci in the preliminary round of the women’s 57kg. England’s next young boxer in action was the U19 World Champion Caitlyn Wise who outpointed Czech Republic’s Petra Cvoligova in this weight class.
Germany’s Sara Glaser is a young talent in the national team and she decided to move down to the 75kg weight category this year due to the Los Angeles Olympics. The German youngster had an African opponent, Senegal’s Awa Cheikh Mbaye and she landed the better punches in the first round. Glaser finished the bout in the second round with a KO which is very rare in women’s boxing.