Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic is aiming her fourth European title after her semi-final triumph
23 October 2021Fifty semi-finals were held in the seventh competition day at the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro. All of the 50 finalists are revealed in the competition and the top boxers remained their chance alive to win one of the 25 titles in the championship. Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic won her semi-final bout by unanimous decision and she can box for her fourth European title on Saturday.
All of the 12 women’s and the 13 men’s weight categories from the minimumweight (48kg) up to the super heavyweight (+91kg) were in actions in the seventh day of boxing in Budva. The EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships is live streamed in the EUBC website as all of the previous competitions in 2021.
Boxers who were born in 2003 and in 2004 are eligible to attend in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Budva. The event will be introduced also the new youth weight categories, the girls can attend in 12 while the boys in 13 different weight classes in Montenegro. The Technical Delegate of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships is Mrs. Susanne Karrlander of Sweden.
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine are competing in the event in Budva.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, wearing masks and all of the health controls were the responsibility of the local organizers in Montenegro avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships.
The bout of the day
Ukraine’s Bozorboy Matyakubov achieved silver medal at the Kielce 2021 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships therefore he had high expectations before the start of the Budva event. The 18-year-old Ukrainian moved up to the welterweight (67kg) and met in a key semi-final with Russia’s Aleksandr Zyrianov who had also strong pedigree from previous championships. Both boxers opened the semi-final in extremely high rhythm to keep the control and the judges had hard job to select the better following their similar performance. Matyakubov was fresh enough in the third round and bowed out his main rival in Budva and can prepare to his final against Spain’s new surprise, Frank Martinez.
The surprises of the day
Greece’s Antonia Filippa Giannakopoulou is an experienced boxer at the women’s bantamweight (54kg) but she could not reach any European finals yet during her career. She had to meet with the main favourite of her category, Russia’s Anastasia Kirienko who won EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and claimed bronze at the Kielce 2021 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships. The Greek girl showed good performance in a preparation event but this time she was in peak form and eliminated Kirienko winning the bout by split decision. Giannakopoulou will face for the gold medal with Turkey’s Kevser Tutuncu who had a surprise success over Ukraine’s Iryna Melnik.
Germany’s Jenin Heck had a difficult quarter-final against Netherlands’ Luna Beeloo but she managed to win that tight contest at the women’s light welterweight (63kg). The German boxer had another tough contest in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships but she was still enough focused to be competitive against Turkey’s EUBC European Junior Champion Asude Ediz Ece. Heck was able to keep the strong tempo until the end of the contest and delivered a surprise success which means she can box for the title against Russia’s Iulia Starchenko.
The Round-up
Italy’s Sophia Mazzoni arrived to the venue of the championship as one of the top boxers of the women’s flyweight (50kg) and she worked hard to reach the semi-finals in Budva. The Italian talent used a strong strategy against Russia’s Arina Vostrikova and took the lead on the scorecards after one round. Mazzoni, who received the strong strategic advices from her coach Valeria Calabrese, was able to keep her level and eliminated the Russian boxer. The Italian will now meet for the title with Serbia’s Sara Cirkovic who advanced to her second European final.
Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic claimed three gold medals in the history of the EUBC European Boxing Championships as a junior and youth boxer. She had a few difficulties in the first part of this year but she is in top form once again in Budva. The titleholder of the women’s featherweight (57kg) had to meet with Sweden’s Zehra Milli who reached her career highlight with this semi-final. The Montenegrin girl felt the tempo from the first round and she found the best angles to win their semi-final bout in Budva. Gojkovic will be boxing with her main rival, Russia’s Alina Pushkar for the gold medal of the weight class.
One of the most anticipated women’s semi-finals were held between Romania’s titleholder Andrea Marin and Russia’s two-time EUBC European Junior Champion Nadezhda Golubeva. The Romanian lightweight (60kg) boxer impressed in the previous parts of the competition but the younger Russian was technically too strong for her. Golubeva gained the control in the first round and landed jabs from several ranges to beat the Romanian No.1. The 17-year-old Russian will be boxing for the gold medal with Armenia’s Elida Kocharyan who stopped Moldova’s Cristina Chiper.
Russia’s EUBC European Youth Champion Aleksey Shendrik moved up to the lightweight (60kg) in the recent months and won their national selection event to fight for his second youth gold medal in Budva. The 18-year-old Russian kept the best fighting distance against Germany’s Enrico Kliesch and won their tactical semi-final. Shendrik will now meet for the gold medal with his main rival, Bulgaria defending champion of this weight class, Radoslav Rosenov who had a tough semi-final against Armenia’s Erik Israyelyan.
