Pushkar, Kuchmanova and Cirkovic won the key finals of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament
08 September 2021The twenty-four final bouts including the 11 female contests were held in the fourth competition day at the 39th edition of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament in Subotica, Serbia. Russia’s female duo Alina Pushkar and Maria Kuchmanova caused top sensations in the day of the finals while Serbia’s Sara Cirkovic also impressed besides to the youth stars.
The 39th Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament was a strong preparation event before the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships which will be held in Budva, Montenegro in October 12-22. Mr. Viorel Sima of Romania was the Technical Delegate of the new edition of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament.
The total number of the participating nations was 15 in the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament. Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, host Serbia and Ukraine sent their youth talents to Subotica. Altogether 106 bouts were held in the competition which was the highlight of the week in the whole boxing world.
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 Serbia to avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the new Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament.
The bout of the day
Russia’s Anastasia Kirienko and her teammate Valeria Linkova both won titles in the recent editions of the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and shined also in the Kielce 2021 AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships. Linkova moved up to the bantamweight (54kg) and she competes now in the same category as Kirienko therefore their final battle was one of the most anticipated one in Subotica. Linkova did not feel the tempo well as in her semi-final and Kirienko had the advantage after three minutes of fight. Kirienko had more experiences to fight in this weight class and defeated her star teammate in the final of the competition.
The surprises of the day
Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic is three-time European Champion as junior and youth boxer and after her unexpected loss at the Kielce 2021 AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships. The Montenegrin girl had two successes in the previous stages of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament but she was not able to repeat her peak performance in the final of the featherweight (57kg). Her Russian opponent Alina Pushkar surprised her with tactical changes which resulted only a silver medal for Gojkovic before the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships.
Russia’s Valeria Vorontsova claimed gold medal at the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and she won all of her international tournaments in the previous years. The Russian talent moved up to the heavyweight (+81kg) where she had clear dominancy also in her national events. She suffered a surprise loss in Subotica where her teammate, Maria Kuchmanova unexpectedly defeated her in the final.
The Round-up
Serbia’s new talent, Sara Cirkovic joined to the youth age group this January and she has got also excellent expectations at the upcoming EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships. She not only competed in the new flyweight (50kg) but the Serbian girl amazed in the final against Russia’s Sofiko Cherepenina. The 17-year-old Serbian took the lead on the scorecards after three minutes of fight and she used her enthusiasm to land enough punches to take the gold medal of the weight class.
Karina Babanazarova won already national events in Russia but she did not get the big chance yet to compete in top international championships. The 18-year-old Russian met in the final of the light welterweight (63kg) with her teammate, Yulia Starchenko and won their tough contest. One of the best Russian youth boxers, AIBA Women’s World Champion Azalia Amineva used her technical superiority in the final of the welterweight (66kg) against Angelina Sheviakova and won her next international title.
Hungary’s Imre Bernath won the first title of the male part of the Golden Gloves of Vojvodina Youth Tournament in Subotica, he spent short time in the ring and his Serbian opponent, Mile Jovanovic abandoned their light flyweight (48kg) contest. Imre’s brother, Laszlo Bernath also started his flyweight (51kg) final well enough against Italy’s Alessio Camiolo but the second round was decisive between them. The 17-year-old Italian used his strength to decided their contest and the Serbian referee confirmed his RSC victory.
Ukraine proved excellent performance in the men’s finals, six of their boxers earned gold medals in Subotica. EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships silver medallist Aider Abduraimov opened the way of the Ukrainian titles, he defeated Romania’s Gheorghe Marian Ghinoiu in the final of the bantamweight (54kg). Ruslan Tsykalo moved up to the featherweight (57kg) but he was still enough tall to use his best tactical weapons to beat Georgia’s Aram Khrykian. In another star line-ups, AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships silver medallist Bozorboy Matyakubov defeated Italy’s EUBC European Junior Champion Yoel Carlo Angeloni at the welterweight (67kg).
