Asian Games AIBA recap and results

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The last competition day of the boxing tournament of the Asian Games has now finished in Incheon, Korea where leading boxing power Kazakhstan topped the team rankings.

As the host nation of the Asian Games, the Korean men’s boxers claimed two gold medals in the front of their local fans.

Mongolia also won their first ever gold medal in the history of the Asian Games, as their strong athlete, Dorjnyambuu Otgondalai was able to realize their main goal in Incheon.

Bout of the day
Korea’s Shin Jong Hun was a silver medallist at the 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the Light Flyweight class (49 kg) star has recently returned to the top level in 2014 with several impressive performances.

Hun had to meet with Kazakhstan’s defending AIBA World Champion Birzhan Zhakipov in the final of the Asian Games, who eliminated Kyrgyzstan’s Great Silk Way Tournament winner Turat Osmonov in the semi-final.

The Korean boxer had to perform at his very best for the nine minutes of the bout to beat the AIBA World Champion and AIBA’s number one world ranked Light Flyweight.

Shin Jong Hun used an attacking style against the taller Kazakh star, and won all of the rounds, which saw the host nation achieve the first gold medal of the men’s finals in Incheon.

Team of the day
Kazakhstan ended up ranked number one in the boxing tournament of the Asian Games, which they also achieved at the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty and at the 2013 ASBC Asian Continental Championships which was held in Amman, Jordan.

Kazakhstan’s AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifiers winner Ilyas Suleimenov was a quarter-finalist at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty last year, and the 24-year-old Astana-based Flyweight class (52 kg) boxer won the first gold medal for his strong Central Asian country following his efforts against Uzbekistan’s Sportaccord World Combat Games winner Shakhobiddin Zoirov.

Kazakhstan’s boxing idol Daniyar Yeleussinov won the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty, and the 2013 ASBC Asian Continental Championships in Amman and was named as the AIBA Best Male Boxer of the 2013.

The 23-year-old virtuoso boxer arrived to Incheon as the titleholder, and following his excellent performance in the semi-final against Turkmenistan’s former ASBC Asian Continental Champion Serdar Hudayberdiyev, he provided a different level of boxing than his final opponent, Uzbekistan’s 19-year-old Israil Madrimov who is another great prospect.

AIBA World Champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly is the youngest competitor of Kazakhstan’s team, but in spite of his young age he was the main gold medal contender of the Middleweight class (75 kg) in Incheon.

The 21-year-old eliminated his main rival, India’s Asian Games titleholder Vikas Krishan Yadav in the semi-final, and following that success he continued the winning path against Jordan’s Odai Riyad Al-Hindawi, bagging Kazakhstan’s third boxing gold in Incheon.

London 2012 Olympic Games silver medallist 25-year-old Adilbek Niyazymbetov was able to beat Iran’s WSB star Ehsan Rouzbahani in the semi-finals of the Light Heavyweight class (81 kg), and finally his efforts were enough to beat Korea’s ASBC Asian Continental Champion Kim Hyeong Kyu in the gold medal bout.

Kazakhstan’s fifth gold medal was delivered by ASBC Asian Continental Champion Anton Pinchuk in the final of the Heavyweight class (91 kg) in Incheon.

The 26-year-old promising boxer had to work hard to reduce the fighting distance against Iran’s former Asian Games winner veteran Ali Mazaheri in the gold medal bout.

Their last, and sixth gold medal was acquired by London 2012 Olympic Games bronze medallist Ivan Dychko.

Asia’s best Super Heavyweight class (+91 kg) boxer realised his golden dreams in Incheon when he overwhelmed his final opponent, Iran’s Asian Games bronze medallist 28-year-old Jasem Delavari.

Surprise of the day
Korea’s AIBA Junior World Championships bronze medallist Ham Sang Myeong was the youngest men’s competitor of the entire Asian Games in Incheon, and was able to eliminate strong favourites of the Bantamweight class (56 kg) such as Mongolia’s London 2012 Olympic silver medallist Tugstsogt Nyambayar and Kazakhstan’s AIBA World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Kairat Yeraliyev.

The Korean teenager was not the favourite against China’s Asian Games silver medallist Zhang Jiawei in the gold medal bout, but Ham was able to step on the gas after the tactical first round.

His efforts were enough to get the second gold medal for the host nation, as he made the local crowd happier.

Ones to watch
Mongolia’s Dorjnyambuu Otgondalai reached his career highlight in Incheon three years ago when he achieved silver at the ASBC Asian Continental Championships.

Since then, he has moved up to the Lightweight class (60 kg) and advanced to the final of the category in Incheon.

He lost to Philippines’ AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifiers silver medallist Charly Suarez in the semi-final of the Republic of Kazakhstan President’s Cup in Almaty in July, but he was able to perform much better in their Asian Games rematch.

The Filipino athlete lost the first two rounds, which meant that Otgondalai’s hand was raised after their gold medal bout.

Thailand’s former ASBC Asian Continental Champion Wuttichai Masuk won the last preparation event of the Asian Games in Almaty where he defeated four top athletes.

He continued his great form in Incheon, and eliminated his main rivals during the road to his gold medal bout.

His final opponent was Korea’s new teenage sensation Lim Hyun Chul, who began their bout with great combination.

After the first round, the Thai southpaw turned up the heat, and won their narrow fight by split decision, earning his career highlight.

Facts of the Asian Games
Altogether, 216 elite athletes fought in the boxing tournament of the Asian Games in Incheon, where the total number of participating countries was 34.

Besides the 40 elite women’s athletes, 176 men’s boxers fought for the medals in the Seonhak Gymnasium which was the venue of the boxing event.

The youngest competitor of the entire tournament was Chinese Taipei’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion talented Lin Yu Ting, who will be celebrating her 19th birthday in December.

The youngest men’s boxer was Korea’s Ham Sang Myeong who bagged the gold medal at the Bantamweight class (56 kg).

Joining the host nation, China, India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also competed with the maximum number of thirteen athletes in the Asian Games.

The highest number of athletes took part in the Men’s Lightweight class (60 kg), where 24 boxers fought for the medals.

Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yeleussinov was the lone boxer who could defend his title from four years ago, while Mongolia claimed its first ever gold medal in the history of the Asian Games.

Uzbekistan joined the Asian Games in 1994 following their independence, but this was the very first time when their athletes were not able to win a gold medal, perhaps due to their team being the youngest Incheon – their average age was only 21.4 years.

Next edition of the Asian Games
The next edition of the Asian Games has been scheduled in Jakarta, Indonesia for 2018.
Indonesia was approved as the host of the Games by the Olympic Council of Asia Executive Board on September 19, 2014, and Palembang and Bandung will be the supporting hosts of their capital city in 2018.

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