Kool eliminated a strong rival in the quarter-finals of the Kolchin U22 Memorial Tournament
18 February 2022The eighth edition of the Kolchin U22 Memorial Tournament started in Orsha, Belarus, which is a preparation event before the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships. Russia’s AIBA World Boxing Championships competitor Evgeniy Kool eliminated a strong rival and will now meet with another star in the next session.
The event dedicated in the memory of A. Kolchin the former honoured coach of the Republic of Belarus. The Kolchin Memorial Tournament is holding in all of the 13 official IBA men’s weight categories from the Minimumweight (48kg) up to the super heavyweight (+92kg). Boxers who were born in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 are eligible to attend in the 8th edition of the Kolchin Memorial Tournament.
The event is holding between the strong Bocskai Memorial and the Strandja Memorial Tournaments but the interests are high as 91 boxers are attending in Orsha. The men’s light welterweight (63.5kg) is the most crowded category with the participation of 14 boxers but the lightweight (60kg) and light middleweight (71kg) are also popular.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, the check of the vaccinations, wearing masks and all of the health controls are the responsibility of the local organizers in Belarus avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the new edition of the 2022 Kolchin U22 Memorial Tournament.
The bout of the day
Evgeniy Kool was a surprise winner in the 2021 Russian Elite National Championships and received the right to attend at the Belgrade AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships. The young Russian will be turning to 21 this year but he has all of the experiences to accomplish his big goals in 2022. Kool arrived to the Kolchin U22 Memorial Tournament to win the difficult welterweight (67kg) and he had to do his very best in the quarter-finals. Kool met with his teammate, Sino Sobirov who is also a skilled boxer but he managed to win that tough bout in Orsha. Another Russian star in this weight class, Ilya Popov also advanced to the semi-finals and will be meeting with Kool in the next session.
The surprise of the day
Belarus’ Uladzislau Smolouski earned several titles in the international competitions as youth boxer and he competed already elite tournaments with successes. He is one of the most promising Belarusian boxers who moved up to the featherweight (57kg) in the recent months. Smolouski was not able to acclimatize to his new weight category yet and he could not follow the best strategy against Russia’s Dmitriy Shipovskiy. The Russian boxer controlled the exchanges and eliminated Belarus’ young pride in the Kolchin Memorial Tournament.
The Round-Up
Russia’s Dmitriy Dvali competed successfully in several international competitions as youth boxer and he is now at the U22 age group and keeps his focus to the upcoming EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships. The young Russian met with a dangerous rival at the bantamweight (54kg), Spain’s Juan Pantoja who earned two bronze medals in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in 2020 and in 2021. Dvali gained the control of their contest in the first round and he was able to catch the quick Spanish boxer using his strong technical skills in Orsha.
Spain’s Salvador Flores Luque impressed in the last editions of the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships and in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships. The 18-year-old boxer won the Boxam Youth Tournament last November and joined to their U22 team this January. The Spaniard opened his campaign well enough in Orsha where he dictated the tempo against Serbia’s Seidi Nazif. Flores was able to share his power well enough in their lightweight (60kg) contest and his hand raised after the last gong.
Armenia’s Artur Shakhpazyan and Artur Ghazaryan both had strong international results as junior and youth boxers and the two future stars had to meet with each other in the quarter-final of the light welterweight (63.5kg). The bout was a selection between them before the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships and Shakhpazyan controlled their contest. One of the favourites of this weight class, Russia’s Magomed Shamsayev had a narrow success over Belarus’ Stanislau Korenkou.
