The new edition of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships opened with 47 bouts in the Bulgarian capital in Sofia. Germany’s Steffi Grin won the most difficult contest of the day but Norway’s favourite Sofia Sorensen also impressed in the first day.
Altogether 402 boxers registered from 40 nations to the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships and among them 377 arrived to Sofia, which made the event busy and high quality. The Bulgarian Boxing Federation hosted the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in 2019 last time and after three years, the event returned to Sofia.
Boxers who were born in 2004 and in 2005 are eligible to attend in the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Sofia. The 2021 edition introduced the new youth weight categories, the girls attended in 12 while the boys in 13 different weight classes in Montenegro and the schedule will be the same in Sofia too.
The safety of all participants, the continuous medical checks, the social distancing, the hygienic preparations, wearing masks, the vaccines check and all of the health controls were the responsibility of the local organizers in Bulgaria avoid any new Covid-19 cases during the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships.
The bout of the day
Germany’s Steffi Grin won already international events in 2019 and she is one of their most experienced female boxers in the national team in spite of the fact she is new in the youth age group. Grin was not able to deliver her best performance in the Tbilisi 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and she started her first bout nervously in Sofia too. The German had a strong Polish rival as first, Dorota Agnieszka Wawszczyk but from the second round, she calmed down and used her best combinations. The 17-year-old German had the stamina in the last round to decide their tight contest but she managed to win one of the most difficult challenges of the day.
The surprise of the day
Greece’s Christos Karaitis impressed at the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament in Montenegro one month ago, which he won and proved amazing developments. The Greek light middleweight (71kg) boxer arrived to Sofia as a medal contender but he looked nervous in the opening minutes against Turkey’s Sultan Osmanli. Karaitis tried to find his tempo in the second round but he was unable to deliver the same strong performance as in Budva and suffered a tight loss to the Turkish boxer.
The Round-Up
Hungary’s Levente Gemes was bronze medallist at the Tbilisi 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships and joined to the youth age group this January. The 17-year-old Hungarian prepared three-weeks directly to this event and opened his campaign with excellent performance in Sofia. The light middleweight (71kg) boxer was too strong for Bulgaria’s Kristiyan Mitev in the first round and he decided their contest in the second when the referee stopped their bout.
Montenegro’s Mirko Sarcevic robbed into the world of boxing last June when he won an international tournament. After only 10 contests during his whole career, he claimed silver medal at the Tbilisi 2021 EUBC Junior European Championships. Sarcevic moved up to the youth level in the recent months and he impressed in his opening bout against Israel’s Siyel Jiryis. The Montenegrin light middleweight (71kg) boxer controlled all of the exchanges and advanced to the last 16 in Sofia.
Croatia’s Leon Buzik is an experienced youth boxer who represented his country in several championships and tournaments. The Croatian moved up to the light middleweight (71kg) and he was confident from the first seconds against Estonia’s Makar Vdovitsenko. Buzik proved his talent in the 2021 Boxam Youth Tournament but he developed his strength and tactical skills since that event. The 18-year-old Croatian controlled his debuting contest and marched to the last 16 of this busy weight category.
This is the very first time in the history of the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships when a preliminary bout was held at the women’s heavyweight (+81kg). Due to the high number of entries, Ukraine’s Polina Chernenko and Turkey’s Fatma Kadikoylu met in a specific preliminary contest in Sofia. The Ukrainian was more experienced and she ruled the contest from the first seconds therefore she had the advantage after three minutes of boxing. Chernenko won all of the three rounds in the judges’ scorecards and joined to the quarter-finals in Sofia.
Germany’s Chrisovalantou Koutsochristou achieved an unexpected silver medal at the 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships after a few international contests. The German youngster competes at the lightweight (60kg) in Sofia and defeated an experienced Norwegian, Sara Melgard in the first session of the championships. Another promising boxer in this weight category, Slovakia’s Tamara Kubalova eliminated Italy’s Luisa Acconcia winning the bout by RSC.
The Norwegians arrived to the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships with an excellent team and they have favourites in the women’s part of the event. Their Sofia Sorensen won international competitions and she started her campaign in the event with excellent performance. The Norwegian light heavyweight (81kg) girl controlled the first round against Turkey’s Esma Nur Lok and she had the decisive punches in the second when the referee confirmed her RSC success.
The live streaming in the second competition day
You can follow all of the Day2 actions LIVE from the EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships Sofia 2022 in these links: