Kazakhstan, India and Russia dominated the finals of the Nations Junior Cup in Vrbas

The Nations Junior Cup was finished with its 26 exciting final contests and new champions have been crowned in the second edition. The Drago Jovovic Sporting Hall was the venue of the competition in Vrbas, Serbia where Russia’s Azalia Amineva, Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic, Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Prikhodko and Romania’s Marian Ionut Radu produced the best performances.

In the women part of the Nations Junior Cup India and Russia both claimed six gold medals in Vrbas while the last 13th title went to Montenegro. Kazakhstan topped the medal standings in the men competition with their seven titles, India took two gold medals, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Azerbaijan each won one category in Vrbas.

Altogether 50 women and 125 men boxers from record number of 24 nations attended in the Nations Junior Cup which was a preparation event for the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships. The upcoming EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships will be held for both genders in Anapa, Russia in October. The next preparation tournaments for the junior boxers will be held in Poland, in Lithuania and in Belarus in September.

The following 24 nations attended in the Nations Junior Cup: Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Macedonia, Mauritius, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, host Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, United States of America and Wales. Mauritius competed in a European junior event at the very first time and their boxers proved their physical conditions are excellent.

The first gold medal of the whole Nations Junior Cup was achieved by India’s Rajni who was able to turn back the final of the women’s pinweight (46kg) when she met with Russia’s Anastasia Kirichenko. Russia’s Valeria Linkova caused eliminated Germany’s Elena Maria Avram by unanimous decision in the semi-final of the light flyweight (48kg) and continued her winning path against India’s Sanjeeta in the final.

Montenegro’s super talented young girl Bojana Gojkovic attended in several international competitions in the recent two years and shined in the full competition at the women’s flyweight (50kg) in Vrbas. The 15-year-old girl from Montenegro eliminated Germany’s titleholder Melissa Rempel and Serbia’s Anastasija Maksimovic during her road to the finals where Gojkovic was slightly better than India’s Tannu and bagged her next tournament title which shows she is able to keep her top form in the international stages.

Russia’s Azalia Amineva had strong performance in the semi-final of the women’s featherweight (57kg) when she stopped Serbia’s No.1 Bojana Dragicevic. Amineva had to meet with her Russian teammate Vladlena Bezlapova in the final which was repeat match following their first meeting. Amineva was stronger and more focused than her compatriot and won the bout by unanimous decision.

Russia’s lightweight (60kg) No.1 Alina Kantemirova and India’s Sharma Yashi have done one of the best women finals in Vrbas which was won by the European boxer 3:2. Russia’s next gold medal was taken by Maria Bersteneva at the light welterweight (63kg) who impressed in the final against Serbia’s Nina Stajkovic.

India produced superb results in the junior and youth level of women boxing in the recent years and their new squad is a very talented one. Their Junior National Champions such as Choudhary Arundhati and Khushi both defeated their Russian opponents in their respective finals using their stamina to take over the control.

The first gold medal in the men’s part of the Nations Junior Cup was acquired by India’s Keisham Sanjit Singh who had a narrow victory over United States’ Shaman Canai in the final of the pinweight (46kg). India’s second gold medal among the men junior boxers was achieved by Bishwamitra Chongtham who demonstrated his high variety of combinations against Serbia’s current Junior National Champion Ekrem Hanusa in the final of the light flyweight (48kg).

Kazakhstan’s Yerbolat Sabyr won several international junior tournaments in 2018 and he continued his glorious way also in the Nations Junior Cup where he was too smart for Romania’s Marian Ionut Radu in the final of the men’s flyweight (50kg). Romania’s Bornemissza Junior Memorial Tournament bronze medallist Aurel Mustafa Curt did better in his final and defeated a strong rival, Kazakhstan Yerassyl Tankay.

Serbia’s Stefan Camovic was not the main favourite of the men’s featherweight (57kg) but he exceeded the expectations and triumphed over India’s Ramesh Gorkha Akash in the final. Kazakhstan’s strong trio Sultan Babakhanov, Nurzhan Amangeldi and Amir Bolatov all won their weight classes with extra performance in Vrbas.

Montenegro’s Milos Krasnici eliminated Czech Republic’s Milos Beranek in the semi-final of the light middleweight (70kg) and continued his winning path against India’s Harsh Choudhary in the final. His teammate Petar Lijesevic delivered the biggest sensations of the semi-finals when he defeated Kazakhstan’s ASBC Asian Junior Champion Yerassyl Zhakpekov in the semi-final on Day3. Lijesevic had another star opponent Kazakhstan’s Bornemissza Junior Memorial Tournament winner Yevgeniy Prikhodko but this time his Central Asian rival was the better.