Nordic Championships AIBA recap and results

Nordic Cup

The Nordic Championships recently finished in Tampere, Finland where many of the best boxers from Northern Europe competed against each other. Athlete of the tournament Finland’s Mira Potkonen is unbeaten in 2015, and has won four tournaments already this year, but the highly rated star had to meet with Sweden’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion and Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist 19­year­old Agnes Alexiusson in the Women’s Lightweight class (60 kg) in Tampere. Both boxers recently won gold at the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia at the beginning of March, which is one of the strongest European elite competitions. The two met in the final of the Golden Girl Championships in Boras two months ago where Potkonen defeated her main regional rival in a narrow bout. This time around, Potkonen spent a week at a training camp in Qianan, China and her excellent preparation showed as she controlled the rematch and won the gold medal. Team of the tournament Finland claimed eleven gold medals in the Nordic Championships on home soil in Tampere, including four from their women’s athletes. The gold run started with Finland’s former AIBA Youth World Championships bronze medallist Matti Koota who beat Denmark’s 19­year­old Fredrik Lundgaard Jensen in the final of the Men’s Bantamweight class (56 kg). Finland’s 20­year­old Ilari Kujala recently defeated AIBA Junior World Champion Aleksandr Agafonov in the Gee Bee Tournament, and he was able to beat another top rival in the event in Tampere where he triumphed over Sweden’s Leon Chartoi. The Men’s Light Heavyweight class (81 kg) was one of the most engaging weight classes, and Finland’s returning boxer Ville Hukkanen provided a world class performance in Tampere and overwhelmed his rivals in the Nordic Championships. He stopped Norway’s EUBC European Youth Continental Championships silver medallist Vegar Tregren in the first round of their semi­final, and following that he was too strong for Denmark’s Ditlev Rossing as well. Finland’s number one Heavyweight (91 kg) Tomi Honka won gold medal in the elite men’s part of the competition after beating Denmark’s Kim Thomsen, while their top youth boxer 17­year­old Arslan Khataev defeated Ali Mohamed Metashar. The second youth gold medal was achieved by new team member Justus Paajanen who beat Sweden’s Anton Kulppi­Svensson in the Lightweight class (60 kg). Surprise of the tournament Sweden’s Farman Babajev replaced Adam Chartoi in the Welterweight class (69 kg) and delivered the biggest surprise of the Nordic Championships. The 18­year­old won all of the rounds against Finland’s AIBA Junior World Championships quarter­finalist Muhammad Abdilrasoon to showcase his burgeoning reputation. One to watch Sweden’s Love Holgersson is one of the tallest boxers in the Women’s Middleweight class (75 kg) and she won the 2011 AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships in Antalya, Turkey. The 22­year­old has made the transition to the elite level with great success, and dominated all of the rounds against Finland’s Sanna Turunen in their final. Stat/fact of the tournament Finland topped the team rankings in the Nordic Championships, while Sweden achieved seven gold medals in Tampere. Denmark and Norway both secured three gold medals in the competition. Quote of the tournament “I was very excited to box in the home ring again in the front of the local boxing fans. Our tactics against Alexiusson was to be in charge in the ring and to try and control the bout at all times. I managed to do that in the last three rounds, and it was great to win my second Nordic title and receive the best women’s boxer trophy again. It has been a good start for the year so far as I have won all of my 16 bouts in 2015,” commented Finland’s unbeaten Mira Potkonen after her triumph.

List of the winners in Tampere Women’s Youth 57 kg: Doris Marins, Finland Women’s Youth 64 kg: Stephanie Thour, Sweden Women’s Elite 48 kg: Lise Sandebjer, Sweden Women’s Elite 51 kg: Juliana Soederstroem, Sweden Women’s Elite 54 kg: Helena Envall, Sweden Women’s Elite 57 kg: Aino Juvonen, Finland Women’s Elite 60 kg: Mira Potkonen, Finland Women’s Elite 64 kg: Elina Gustafsson, Finland Women’s Elite 69 kg: Ditte Ajaaja Frostholm, Denmark Women’s Elite 75 kg: Love Holgersson, Sweden Men’s Youth 56 kg: Arslan Khataev, Finland Men’s Youth 60 kg: Justus Paajanen, Finland Men’s Youth 64 kg: Anders Eggan, Norway Men’s Youth 69 kg: Farman Babajev, Sweden Men’s Youth 75 kg: Tobias Moellenberg, Denmark Men’s Youth 81 kg: Kevin Ushe Asonze, Denmark Men’s 56 kg: Matti Koota, Finland Men’s 60 kg: Bashir Hassan, Sweden Men’s 64 kg: Amin Nuri, Finland Men’s 69 kg: Jamshid Nazari, Norway Men’s 75 kg: Ilari Kujala, Finland Men’s 81 kg: Ville Hukkanen, Finland Men’s 91 kg: Tomi Honka, Finland Men’s +91 kg: Simen Nysaeter, Norway Don’t forget you can keep up with all of the ac