Turkey is the most successful European country after the preliminaries at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

The fifth competition day of the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships was held in the Indian capital in New Delhi where the top 80 boxers remained in actions after all preliminary bouts. Turkey is the most successful European country after five competition days, four of their hopes are in the quarter-finals.

Altogether 277 boxers are attending in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and among them 118 athletes are from 27 different European nations in New Delhi. The winners of the flyweight (51kg), featherweight (57kg), light welterweight (64kg) and welterweight (69kg) advanced to the last eight.

Poland’s Sandra Drabik was silver medallist in the Baku 2015 European Games and she has got plenty of experiences from almost all level of boxing. The Polish flyweight (51kg) boxer used different preparation this time and she was hungry to box in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Drabik followed her tactic well against Sweden’s Lisa Sandebjer and she advanced to the last eight as in 2016.

Turkey’s Sema Caliskan was silver medallist in the EUBC European Confederation Women’s Boxing Championships and she prepared well to the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The Turkish light welterweight (64kg) boxer was a hard target for Romania’s Dana Maria Borzei and dominated all of the rounds in New Delhi. The final verdict was unanimous decision to Caliskan who advanced to the last eight.

Experienced European boxers met each other in the last of the light welterweight (64kg) to reach the Top8. Ukraine’s Maria Badulina-Bova, who claimed gold medal in the Qinhuangdao 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, tried to keep the longer distance against Denmark’s Yvonne Baek Rasmussen who won her first international medals in 2005. The Danish boxer moved ahead without any stoppage but their narrow fight was won by the Ukrainian in New Delhi.

Netherlands’ Rio 2016 Olympic Games winner and EUBC European Women’s Champion Nouchka Fontijn opened her campaign in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships against Mongolia’s Myagmarjargal Munkhbat. The favourite of the middleweight (75kg) found her best rhythm after one minute and demonstrated her tactical and technical skills in New Delhi. The final verdict was unanimous decision in the favour of Fontijn who started her campaign with powerful performance.

Poland’s Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games winner and AIBA Youth World Champion Elzbieta Wojcik had a few difficulties in the recent elite competitions but her coach worked on her movements in the preparation camps. The 22-year-old Polish middleweight (75kg) boxer impressed against India’s Saweety Boora who moved down one category to attend in New Delhi. Wojcik used her strong footwork and counter-attacking style against the Indian and advanced to the last eight in the event.

Germany’s Ornella Wahner was AIBA Youth World Champion in 2011 and in the recent years she moved ahead step by step. The 25-year-old featherweight (57kg) boxer had more experiences than Scotland’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships quarter-finalist Victoria Glover and she used a strong tactic against her younger rival. Wahner controlled the second round well enough and eliminated the Scottish teenager in India.

Following Nouchka Fontijn’s success Netherlands’ second boxer in the competition Jemyma Betrian advanced to the quarter-finals in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The former kick-boxer Dutch girl was too strong for South Korea’s AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion Im Ae Ji and won their featherweight (57kg) bout by RSC. The titleholder of this category Italy’s Alessia Mesiano was able to beat this time Ireland’s Michaela Walsh following her loss on their first match in Sofia this June.

Germany’s Sarah Scheurich claimed medals in the recent European continental events but she had to do her very best against Mozambique’s Adosinda Gramane Rady to secure her place in the last eight of the middleweight (75kg). Another top European boxer in this category 2016 EUBC European Women’s Champion Natasha Gale dominated her bout against Italy’s Assunta Canfora and advanced also to the last eight.