Bulgaria won the medal table at the Adem Jashari Memorial Tournament in Prishtina
23 November 2021The new edition of the two-days long Adem Jashari Memorial Tournament was held in Kosovo’s capital in Prishtina as the next international event. The Palace Sports Hall of Prishtina was the venue of the elite male international tournament where European boxers attended for the medals.
Bulgaria’s 19-year-old Yasen Radev, Javier Ibanez, Krasimir Dzhurov, Rami Kiwan and Yordan Hernandez earned five gold medals for the country in the Adem Jashari Memorial Tournament. Their five gold medals guaranteed for them the first position in the team rankings and medal table.
Kosovo’s main elite international tournament was named by Mr. Adem Jashari who is one of the biggest national heroes of the developing country. The Kosovo Boxing Federation dedicated an elite international event to remain his memory.
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 Prishtina avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the new edition of the Adem Jashari Memorial Tournament.
The bout of the finals
Yordan Hernandez represented Cuba in many international events including the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships, Youth Olympic Games in the past. He earned gold medals on these competitions but as an elite boxer he was not involved to their national team. Hernandez decided to switch to Bulgaria together with Javier Ibanez and he is now a new hope for the country. He moved down to the heavyweight (92kg) but the Bulgarian had enough power to control his final against Albania’s veteran Christian Demaj who returned to the national team. The 30-year-old Albanian is a real fighter but Hernandez proved his excellent technical skills to beat Demaj in the final of the Adem Jashari Memorial Tournament.
The surprise of the finals
Bulgaria’s Vensan Kirkorov is 21-year-old top talent who has got more than 140 contests already during his career. The Bulgarian competed in several junior, youth, U22 and elite international events but his skills were not enough to beat one of the Kosovan prospects in the Adem Jashari Memorial Tournament. The local hope Shpetim Bajoku won the Golden Gong Tournament in Skopje one week ago and he could repeat that performance in Prishtina beating the experienced Bulgarian.
The Round-up
Bulgaria’s Yasen Radev turned to 19 only three weeks ago but the two-time EUBC European Youth Champion but he is well-experienced in the international stage. Radev is not only Bulgaria’s but Europe’s great prospect in his category for 2022 which ca deliver for the youngster a breakthrough among the elite boxers. Radev was in different level than Kosovo’s Luar Aliu whose ringside abandoned their featherweight (57kg) final in Prishtina.
Bulgaria’s ex-Cuban sensation, Javier Ibanez was quarter-finalist at the Belgrade AIBA World Boxing Championships. The 25-year-old former AIBA Youth World Champion did not stop the intense training sessions and arrived to Prishtina in top form. Ibanez defeated another experienced European rival, Slovakia’s Viliam Tanko in the final of the lightweight (60kg). Ibanez and all of the top Bulgarians will compete at the National Team Championships in Varna this week.
Kosovo’s Patriot Behrami attended in top competitions in the recent three years and won smaller international tournaments. He is tough at the light middleweight (71kg) and following his lethal combinations, North Macedonia’s Ferid Hoxha abandoned their final bout. Slovakia’s No.1 Andrej Csemez returned to the international events after a small injury and stopped Eralb Berisha of Kosovo in his final.
