Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Croatia won the women’s titles at the Belgrade Winner Tournament
04 April 2022The women’s finals and the men’s semi-finals took place in the fourth day of boxing at the 59th edition of the Belgrade Winner Tournament in Serbia’s capital. Host Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Croatia earned the gold medals in the female part of the Belgrade Winner Tournament on Day4.
Serbia’s main international event has scheduled for the elite women and men boxers as in the recent editions. The event is preparation before the main events in May as the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and the EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships. The Technical Delegate of the 59th Belgrade Winner Tournament is Mr. Maxim Cherticovtsev of Moldova.
Belgrade was the host of the last edition of the AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships a few months ago. Since then, the Serbians hosted the Golden Gloves Tournament and the Nations Women’s Cup, which will follow the Belgrade Winner Tournament for the elite boxers.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, 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 Belgrade Winner Tournament.
The bout of the day
Turkey’s three-time EUBC Champion as junior and youth boxer, Busra Isildar amazed at the Kielce 2021 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships where she earned another gold medal. The Turkish boxer competes as elite in the international stage and she is a high hope in all of the upcoming big events including at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Isildar was confident in the semi-finals but she had to meet for the title of the women’s heavyweight (+81kg) with Morocco’s Khadija Mardi who earned bronze in Ulan-Ude and she is one of the most experienced African boxers. Isildar used her distance well in the first round and landed not only effective punches but these were only strong ones. Mardi had long hands but Isildar worked hard until the last gong to manage to take the gold medal in Belgrade.
The surprise of the day
Kyrgyzstan’s Nurzhigit Duishebayev had a close and fantastic success in the quarter-finals of the men’s flyweight (51kg) but he did not have chance to relax in his next contest. The Kyrgyz boxer, who replaced ASBC Asian Champion Azat Usenaliev in the squad, met with Kazakhstan’s minimumweight (48kg) AIBA World Champion Temirtas Zhussupov in the semi-finals. The 10-years-younger Kyrgyz boxer exceeded all of the previous expectations and delivered the biggest sensation of the Belgrade Winner Tournament eliminating his strong Kazakh rival. Duishebayev will now meet with England’s Kiaran MacDonald in the title contest of the weight class.
The Round-Up
Serbia’s Tamir Galanov is a veteran boxer who reached his career highlight, a bronze medal at the Hamburg 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships representing Russia. The Serbian bantamweight (54kg) boxer had a hard job against Wales’ Owain Harris in the semi-finals but his experience paid off in the final round. Galanov’s last opponent for the gold medal will be Kazakhstan’s Olzhas Bayniyazov who eliminated his teammate. Another Serbian boxer, EUBC European Junior Champion Semiz Alicic succeeded against Kazakhstan’s Samatali Toltayev and will now face for the title of the lightweight (60kg) with Armenia’s experienced Karen Tonakanyan.
Serbia’s former EUBC European U22 Champion Vakhid Abbasov returned to the events after the AIBA World Boxing Championships and he has strong motivation to show his very best in 2022. The Serbian welterweight (67kg) boxer controlled the first round against Poland’s Filip Wachala and took the lead on the scorecards. Abbasov, who has strong Russian roots, dominated all of the three rounds with his attacking style which means the dream final of the category realized with Pavel Fedorov of Serbia.
Armenia sent a strong team to the Belgrade Winner Tournament which is part of their preparation to the upcoming EUBC European Men’s Elite Boxing Championships. The Armenians had several narrow losses in the event but their super heavyweight (+92kg) boxer marched to the final of the Belgrade Winner Tournament. Davit Chaloyan achieved silver medal at the AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships in Belgrade five months ago and returned to the country in top shape. He felt the tempo against Serbia’s ex-Russian Sergej Kalchugin and he will be boxing for the title with another local boxer, Vladan Babic.
Following Snezana Siljkovic’s and Nina Radovanovic’s victories over their Moroccan and Welsh rivals in the day of the women’s finals, their current No.1, ex-Russian Natalia Shadrina amazed in her lightweight (60kg) title bout. Shadrina has more than 10 years of experiences only in the international stage and opened her campaign in the first round of the final with impressive punches against Lithuania’s Ana Starovoitova. The Serbian star enjoyed her final, dictated the tempo and used her best combinations to win the gold medal.
The Bulgarians arrived to the venue of the Belgrade Winner Tournament with strong and experienced hopes. Among their three finalists, all of them succeeded in the fourth day of boxing in the Serbian capital where their team amazed once again. Former AIBA Women’s World Champion Stanimira Petrova enjoyed her final at the bantamweight (54kg) against Morocco’s Zohra Ez-Zahraoui and won the contest by unanimous decision. Svetlana Kamenova Staneva returned with a fantastic gold medal at the Strandja Memorial Tournament and she remained unbeaten against Serbia’s Jelena Zekic in Belgrade. Bulgaria’s third gold medal was captured by Melis Yonuzova at the light middleweight (70kg) where she defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Rapaic.
