Khelif and Enge joined to the finals in the Nations Women’s Cup
30 January 2022The second part of the semi-finals with twenty-two contests were held in the fourth competition day of the 11th edition of the Nations Women’s Cup in Sombor, Serbia. Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Norway’s Julie Enge eliminated strong rivals and both advanced to the finals of the international event.
Algeria, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, Fair Chance Team, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Wales sent their girls to the Nations Women’s Cup. The boxers can prepare for the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships and EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in this 11th Nations Women’s Cup.
There are events for the elite, youth, junior and also schoolgirl boxers in Sombor, Serbia therefore the interest is huge in the competition. Boxers who were born between 1982 and 2003 are eligible to attend in the elite part of the Nations Women’s Cup in Sombor. The 2004 and 2005 born boxers can compete in the youth part of the competition, the younger 2006 and 2007 age groups are the junior athletes in 2022. The youngest 2008 and 2009 born boxers can attend in the schoolgirls part of the Nations Women’s Cup and starts their international career.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, the vaccines control, wearing masks and all of the health controls are the responsibility of the local organizers in Serbia to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the 11th Nations Women’s Cup.
The bout of the day
Algeria’s All Africa Games winner Imane Khelif is only 22 but she has got four years of experiences among the elite boxers with their national team. She is Africa’s No.1 in women’s boxing and proved her very best in new category, at the light welterweight (63kg) in Sombor. Khelif is enough tall to that weight class and used her long distance tactic against Netherlands’ former EUBC European Youth Champion Chelsey Heijnen in the semi-finals. The Dutch girl was also born in 1999 as Khelif and landed some nice shots but the Algerian star could win their tough bout on Day4.
The surprise of the day
The Norwegian girls impressed in the recent international competitions since September 2021 when the country was able to return to the boxing map. Following their strong preparations, the Norwegian boxers impressed also in the Nations Women’s Cup but their Julie Enge caused a sensation on the fourth competition day. The 17-year-old boxer started better than Russia’s Tatiana Sotnikova and she was able to keep the control until the last gong which meant Enge marched to the final of the youth lightweight (60kg).
The Round-up
Hungary’s Schoolgirl National Champion Sara Nyogeri joined to the junior age group this January but she looked confident from the first seconds against Czech Republic’s Amalie Lantova. The 14-year-old Hungarian moved up to the light bantamweight (52kg) but she had the power and speed to defeat Landova in their semi-final bout. Nyogeri will be boxing for the title with Greece’s Maria Georgopoulou who eliminated another Czech girl, the experienced Julie Polednikova in the second semi-final.
Russia’s EUBC European Junior Champion Alena Tremasova is a superb talent at the youth bantamweight (54kg) who impressed in her semi-final once again. The 17-year-old Russian has got four years of international experiences and she had enough tough battles to handle her semi-final against her teammate, Polina Spirina. Tremasova was better in all aspects of boxing than Spirina which was also a selection bout between the two Russians. Tremasova will be fighting for the gold medal with Uliana Savro who defeated Serbia’s promising Dragana Jovanovic in the next bout.
Slovakia’s Tamara Kubalova competed in her first international competition at the 2021 Silesian Open Women’s Tournament but since then she developed rapidly and after four months of her debut, she is now finalist at the Nations Women’s Cup. The Slovakian girl eliminated a tough opponent in the quarter-finals of the youth lightweight (60kg) and she continued her winning path against another experienced boxer, Serbia’s Djina Miletic. Kubalova not only controlled the first round and led on the scorecards but the referee stopped their bout in the second.
