Brazil’s AIBA Women’s World Champion Beatriz Ferreira won her key semi-final at the Strandja Memorial Tournament
27 February 2021The winners of the fifth competition day advanced to the finals at the 72nd edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. Brazil’s AIBA Women’s World Champion Beatriz Ferreira eliminated Russia’s promising star Nune Asatrian in the bout of the semi-finals and will be meeting with Finland’s No.1 Mira Potkonen.
All of the five women and eight men weight categories competed in the semi-finals at the fifth day of boxing. The Strandja Memorial is Europe’s oldest international boxing tournament and has got a strong brand name therefore high number of stars compete there in the new edition. Altogether 220 boxers including 91 women athletes are attending from 30 nations at the 72nd edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament.
The following 30 nations are attending in the Strandja Memorial Tournament: Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, India, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Morocco, Moldova, Mali, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America and Uzbekistan.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, wearing masks and all of the health controls are the responsibility of the local organizers in Sofia to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the Strandja Memorial Tournament.
The bout of the day
Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira is the defending AIBA Women’s World Champion at the lightweight (60kg) who is also strengthening the Strandja Memorial Tournament. The Brazilian joined to the international events only in April 2017 but she won more than 90% of her contests since that Belgrade Winner Tournament. Ferreira expected a tough battle against Russia’s new sensation, AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships silver medallist Nune Asatrian. The Russian is only 20 but she is their Elite National Champion and an impressive talent for the future. Asatrian was brave and she had the skills in their amazing semi-finals but Ferreira’s hard punches decided the tough battle. The Brazilian will have another strong challenge in the finals in Sofia where her next opponent will be Finland’s star Mira Potkonen.
The surprise of the day
India’s Deepak Kumar moved up from the light flyweight (49kg) up to the flyweight (52kg) in the recent months. The 24-year-old Indian is a small boxer in the category but his aggressiveness and stamina are fabulous. Deepak met in the semi-finals with Uzbekistan’s Olympic Games winner and AIBA World Champion Shakhobiddin Zoirov in Sofia. The Indian was never stopped attacking and his style delivered for him an unexpected success in the last four therefore he can box against Bulgaria’s two-time EUBC European Champion star Daniel Asenov.
The Round-up
Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova claimed gold medal at the Jeju 2014 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships which was a big surprise six and half years ago. Since then the smiling Bulgarian girl won high number of international events and continued her winning path against Ukraine’s veteran Iulia Tsyplakova in the semi-finals of the featherweight (57kg). She will be meeting for the gold with Russia’s Karina Tazabekova who eliminated Bulgaria’s returning boxer, Svetlana Kamenova.
Russia’s Ilia Popov achieved gold medal at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games and received the right quickly to compete in their elite national team next year. The 21-year-old Russian, who achieved silver medal in their last National Championships, eliminated his rivals with strong technical skills but in the semi-finals he trusted in his strength against Armenia’s Benik Nikoghosyan. Popov’s lethal punches decided the contest and the referee confirmed his RSC success which means he can box for the title of the lightweight (63kg) against Moldova’s Alexandru Paraschiv.
Ukraine’s AIBA World Champion and EUBC European Champion Oleksandr Khyzhniak is one of the main stars of the Strandja Memorial Tournament in Bulgaria. The Ukrainian middleweight (75kg) boxer has got different rhythm as any of his opponents and he dominated his next challenge against Moldova’s Andrei Vreme. Khyzhniak had more than 60 attacks per rounds and finished the bout before the last gong in Sofia. The powerful Ukrainian will be facing for the gold medal with Russia’s Pavel Sosulin who eliminated Kazakhstan’s Nurkanat Raiys.
