Barabanov, Escobar and Quiles advanced to the semi-finals of the Liventsev Memorial Tournament
14 November 2019The last edition of the Liventsev Memorial Tournament was a Test Event for the Minsk 2019 European Games. Since the Games passed in the Belarusian capital the new edition of the Liventsev Memorial Tournament serves the female and male boxers to support their preparation to the upcoming European Olympic Qualification Event. Ukraine’s tough Yevhenii Barabanov used his impressive combinations to beat Turkey’s Tugrulhan Erdemir, while the top Spanish du Jose Quiles and Gabriel Escobar also controlled their quarter-finals.
The Liventsev Memorial Tournament has a stronger brand name and the teams returned to the Belarusian capital to get the titles of the event. The following 18 nations are attending in the Liventsev Memorial Tournament: Armenia, Belarus, England, France, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Ukraine. The Technical Delegate of the Liventsev Memorial Tournament is Mr. Maxim Cherticovtsev of Moldova.
Bout of the day
Ukraine’s Yevhenii Barabanov had a successful youth year in 2011 but he needed six years to reach the place in the elite national team in his homeland. The welterweight (69kg) boxer is famous of his tough combinations and many of his fights finish by RSC. The 26-year-old Ukrainian had to meet with Turkey’s AIBA Youth World Champion Tugrulhan Erdemir who has just moved up to this weight class since Yekaterinburg. Barabanov attacked from the first exchanges while Erdemir tried to avoid these pressurizing combinations using his long distance strategy in their quarter-final. The Turkish boxer moved more on feet but Barabanov caught him several times to win one of the most difficult bouts of the day.
Surprise of the day
Belarus’ Aliaksandr Beresneu is not the best welterweight (69kg) boxer of the host nation but he worked better than expected. The Belarusian boxer defeated Thailand’s AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships bronze medallist Peerapat Yeasungnoen in the preliminary bout and continued his winning path against another tough Asian in the last eight. The Belarusian was slightly better than Kyrgyzstan’s ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships silver medallist Nursultan Mamataly Uulu who is their new elite National Champion in this division.
The Round-Up
The Belarusian girls proved strong developments this year, their bests achieved medals in the EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships and one bronze also in the Ulan-Ude 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Their best flyweight (51kg) boxers Yana Burym and Yana Apanasovich both impressed in the quarter-finals of the category and defeated their experienced rivals as 19-year-old Chloe Watson of England and National Golden Gloves winner Olena Savchuk of Italy.
Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong eliminated India’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion Jyoti Gulia in the first preliminary round of the flyweight (51kg) and she continued her winning path another strong opponent beating Russia’s Maria Khuzhakhmetova. Her teammate AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships silver medallist Sudaporn Seesondee also advanced to the last four following her success over Spain’s Melissa Noemi Gonzalez Tudge at the women’s lightweight (60kg).
Italy’s defending EUBC European Women’s Champion at the featherweight (57kg) Irma Testa had a tough quarter-final opponent but she used her effective long range strategy well enough again. The 22-year-old Italian was effective in the counter-attacks and defeated India’s AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships silver medallist Manisha Moun and will be meeting with Thailand’s Nilawan Techasuep who has the similar tactic as Testa.
England’s Kiaran MacDonald is only 22 but he had enough experiences to beat the best male flyweight (52kg) boxer of the host country, Aliaksandr Butrym winning the bout unanimously. One of his main rivals could be Spain’s Minsk 2019 European Games winner Gabriel Escobar who eliminated Armenia’s Koryun Soghomonyan in a one-sided bout while Kyrgyzstan’s ASBC Asian Champion Azat Usenaliev also advanced to the semi-finals.
Spain’s Jose Quiles suffered an injury a few months ago and returned with a title last month at the Leszek Drogosz Memorial Tournament in Poland. He celebrated his 22nd birthday with that gold medal and arrived to Minsk as one of the favourites of the men’s bantamweight (57kg). The Spanish boxer had a developing local opponent Dzmitry Dziashkevich and he had to do his very best to secure his place in the semi-finals. Armenia’s Artur Bazeyan, Turkey’s Batuhan Ciftci and Kyrgyzstan’s Munarbek Seyitbek Uulu also advanced to the last four in that weight class.
