Italy and England amazed in the youth and elite semi-finals at the Nations Women’s Cup
19 January 2020Altogether 34 semi-final bouts have been held in the fourthcompetition day at the 9th edition of the Nations Women’s Cup in the city of Sombor, Serbia. The youth and elite boxers were in action in the fourth competition day and among them the Italians and the English girls amazed the crowd with their strong victories.
The first edition of the Nations Women’s Cup was taking place in Sombor eight years ago in 2012. The Olympic Qualification Events will be held in the months of February and March therefore the interest is higher for the preparation tournaments than in a non-Olympic year. Altogether 193 boxers from 25 countries are attending in the new edition of the Nations Women’s Cup including new female boxing nations as Cyprus and Mali.
Bout of the day
The Italian elite team contains high number of young hopes who could be strong weapons for them in the European Olympic Qualification Event and also in the EUBC European U22 Boxing Championships which will be held in their homeland later this year. Rebecca Nicoli was EUBC European U22 Champion but she is only 20 now who has got amazing fighting spirit. The Italian lightweight (60kg) boxer had to face with India’s 13-year-older Ramilal Pavitra who has been attending in the international events since 2009. Nicoli used her strength and speed to work from closer distance but the Indian was competitive and experienced to avoid most of her attacks. The Italian talent was able to increase her tempo and eliminated the veteran Indian which means Nicoli will be boxing with Slovakia’s EUBC European Youth Champion Jessica Triebelova for the gold.
Surprise of the day
Croatia’s Sara Kos is a well-known boxer as Sara Beram who competed in high number of international events in the recent years. The Croatian moved up to the light welterweight (64kg) which is a test for her before the European Olympic Qualification Event. Kos had to meet with India’s National Champion Pwilao Basumatary who is among the best boxers in the world in that category. The 24-year-old Croatian proved her upgraded skills and technique which combination were enough to win their semi-final.
The Round-Up
England’s Megan Bainbridge claimed silver medal at the 2018 EUBC European Women’s Junior Boxing Championships and joined to the youth age group this January. The 16-year-old English girl had a tough semi-final against China’s Zhu Liuying but she had a fantastic finish and turned back their fight. Bainbridge needs only one further step to win the light flyweight (48kg) but her next rival will be also a top one, Russia’s Alena Stepanova who defeated England’s Marie-Lee Shelby.
England’s next youth hope Courtney Cox had to meet in the semi-finals with Germany’s Maria-Elena Avram who had more than 60 bouts already in the recent years. The English flyweight (51kg) boxer had a well-built tactic against her German rival who joined also to the youth age group in the recent weeks. Cox controlled all of the rounds against Avram and will be boxing for the title of the Nations Women’s Cup with Russia’s EUBC European Women’s Junior Champion Anastasia Kiriyenko.
Netherlands’ Luna Beeloo was an unknown boxer in the international stage before the start of the Nations Women’s Cup but she managed two amazing victories during her road to the finals of the light welterweight (64kg). The 17-year-old Dutch talent eliminated Serbia’s EUBC European Junior Boxing Championships silver medallist Nina Stajkovic in the quarter-finals on Day3 and she managed her next success against China’s top boxer Wang Xiaoyu who was more experienced than Beeloo.
England’s Emily Asquith won the gold medal at the light heavyweight (81kg) in the last edition of the EUBC European Women’s Youth Boxing Championships in Sofia a few months ago. The 17-year-old English girl moved up to the heavyweight (+81kg) but she did not give any chance to Russia’s Ekaterina Rodionova in Sombor. Asquith used her pressurizing style and following the knock downs, the Slovakian referee stopped their semi-final which means England’s unbeaten hope will be meeting for the gold with another Russian, Ekaterina Yachmeneva.
Italy’s Giordana Sorrentino is another promising boxer of their country who eliminated China’s Liu Jiaqi in the quarter-finals. The Italian bantamweight (54kg) boxer continued her winning path against Serbia’s Dajana Grmusa and will be meeting for the gold with India’s Maisnam Meena Kumari Devi. Italy’s best female boxer EUBC European Women’s Champion Irma Testa used her height advantage against Kazakhstan’s Anzha Sadvakassova and marched also to the final of the featherweight (57kg).
