Antonia Giannakopoulou won the most difficult bout in Porec on Day4

The women’s boxers began their road to the titles in the fourth competition day of the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships in Porec, Croatia. Greece’s EUBC European Youth Champion Antonia Giannakopoulou won the most difficult contest of the day but she joined to the last eight as France’s Sthelyne Grosy, Finland’s Vilma Viitanen and other young hopes.

The number of the participating boxers is 319 from 39 countries including 103 girls in the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships. Boxers who were born in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 are eligible to attend in the upcoming EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships. The Technical Delegate of the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships is Mr. Viorel Sima of Romania.

The following record number of 39 nations are attending in the 2022 EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships in Porec: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.

The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, the vaccines check, the mask wearing and all of the health controls are the responsibility of the local organizers in Croatia to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships.  

The bout of the day

Greece’s Antonia Giannakopoulou earned gold medal at the 2021 EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro which was her career highlight. The 18-year-old Greek talent joined to the U22 age group this January and after a strong preparation, she was selected to attend in Porec. She remained at the bantamweight (54kg) and arrived to the Croatian event to get at least a medal in her new age group. Giannakopoulou met with a strong Turkish girl, Gamze Soguksu who had same level of international experiences too. Her opponent was a strong fighter and landed powerful jabs but Giannakopoulou was smarter in the second part of the contest and succeeded in the fourth competition day.

The Round-up

Slovakia’s Nicole Durikova is a talented girl who joined to their U22 and elite national teams two years ago. Since then, the Slovakian girl achieved medals in various international tournaments and became one of their strongest future hopes. Durikova opened her campaign in Porec against Ireland’s Nicole Clyde and she was able to use a successful tactic on Day4. The Slovakian was quicker in the exchanges and she won their contest by split decision which was the first female bout of the whole event.

Italy’s Sharon Prisco has just joined to their elite and U22 national teams a few weeks ago but she impressed at the Strandja Memorial Tournament which was her last preparation competition before Porec. The 19-year-old Italian met with Romania’s Bianca Cobzaru and despite of the experiences of her opponent, Prisco worked enough to win this contest. Another strong bantamweight (54kg) hope, Ireland’s Niamh Fay amazed the experts with her performance on Day4, she dominated all of the three rounds against Ukraine’s Anastasia Lisinska.

Germany’s Jenin Heck had a strong year in 2021, she defeated more experienced rivals in several occasions during her international events. The 19-year-old German competes at the lightweight (60kg) in Porec now but she had the speed to land punches against Hungary’s newcomer, Petra Szabo. Romania’s EUBC European Youth Champion Loredana Andreea Marin is another favourite in this weight class and she was too smart and fast for Italy’s Daniela Golino in their meeting.

Denmark’s Melissa Mortensen represented her nations in all levels of boxing in the recent five years and she is their female No.1 currently. The Danish girl is a secret favourite at the featherweight (57kg) where she opened her campaign successfully against Germany’s Ani Manukyan. Ireland’s Zara Breslin could not attend international events in the Covid-19 period but she returned to the national team in time to compete in Porec. The Irish talent met with Hungary’s 18-year-old Beata Varga and she controlled all of the three rounds to win their contest in this strong category.

France’s Sthelyne Grosy earned silver medal at the Kielce 2021 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and arrived to Porec with high hopes. The 19-year-old French featherweight (57kg) boxer advanced to the quarter-finals in the U22 Championships following her clear success over Moldova’s Cristina Chiper. Another top boxer of this weight class, Finland’s Vilma Viitanen used her nice technical skills to beat Croatia’s Dea Bolanca and advanced to the top eight in Porec.