The first part of the quarter-finals delighted the crowd at the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships in Montesilvano, Italy. Outstanding 205 contests are done already in the busy championship after four days and the winners of today are all medallists. England’s Alice Pumphrey had a fantastic bout against Spain’s Noelia Gutierrez and she won the top female fight of the day.
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine are the participating nations in the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships.
The number of the female boxers is 119 and their most crowded category is the featherweight (57kg) with the participation of 15 boxers. The 234 male boxers is near to the record in the history of the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships.
The girls and boys both are able to participate in 13-13 weight categories from the pinweight (46kg) up to the heavyweight (+80kg) in the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. The female and the male boxers who were born in 2006 and in 2007 are eligible to participate in the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships.
The bout of the day
England’s Alice Pumphrey earned a gold medal at the 2019 EUBC European Schoolgirls Boxing Championships and the 16-year-old talent returned to the international stage after a break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Pumphrey opened her campaign in Montesilvano with a superb success and she expected a hard battle against Spain’s No.1, the last year’s silver medallist, Noelia Gutierrez. The English girl began boxing before her 10th birthday but she faced a native talent in the quarter-finals and the Spaniard was a very competitive rival for the main gold medal favourite. Pumphrey changed her rhythm rounds by rounds and her efforts guaranteed the medal in the championship.
The surprise of the day
Switzerland’s Angela De Felice has more than 35 contests during her career which is quiet high among the female junior boxers. The Swiss light flyweight (48kg) girl is a strong talent in our sport who earned several medals in the previous international competitions. De Felice had all of the skills and experiences to beat Poland’s Nadia Formela in their quarter-final bout but this time the Swiss girl was not able to handle all of the tactical difficulties. De Felice could be Switzerland’s first ever medallist in the history of the event but Formela was able to beat her by split decision (3:2).
The Round-Up
Azerbaijan built up a strong junior team for the very first time and their girls competed in several events to be on the top at the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships in Montesilvano. Aynur Mikayilova competes in her first continental event but she had the experience how to handle all of the tactical jobs. She had the advantage after two minutes against Greece’s Lamprini Giannakopoulou and the Azeri flyweight (50kg) girl amazed in the further two rounds as well. Mikayilova became Azerbaijan’s first ever female guaranteed medallist in the history of the EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships.
The Lithuanian girls are in strong developing stage following Gabriele Stonkute’s gold medal at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Following their female talents won a few contests in Montesilvano their Beatrice Savickaite proved the next tough performance. The Lithuanian lightweight (60kg) boxer dominated the first two rounds against Croatia’s Dorotea Vencl and her punches were decisive in the third. In the next bout of this weight class, Poland’s Kinga Krowka had a tight success over Spain’s 15-year-old Candela Carnerero and she also managed to get a medal in the city of Montesilvano. Her compatriot, Gabriele Sinickaite exceeded all of her previous performance once again and earned a second medal for Lithuania.
Czech Republic’s Viktorie Jilkova earned a historic gold medal for her nation at the 2021 EUBC Schoolgirls European Boxing Championships. She is now member of their junior national team and the 15-year-old boxer achieved her second medal in a EUBC Championships. Jilkova won two out of the three rounds against Ireland’s Siofra Lawless at the featherweight (57kg) and marched to the semi-finals. Italy’s Sara Battistella also spends her first year in the junior level but she bagged the guaranteed medal after beating Kosovo’s Suela Canoli in Montesilvano.
Hungary’s Krisztian Nileborg lost his last contest at the Tbilisi 2021 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships. Since then, he won more than half dozens of tournaments and defeated all of his rivals by large margin of differences. The 16-year-old Hungarian light middleweight (70kg) boxer dominated the first round against Ireland’s Charles Valbergs and he had the strong strategy to eliminated his opponent. His semi-final opponent will be Poland’s Igor Marek Rondos who defeated Czech Republic’s Martin Frantisek Rusnak in the next quarter-final bout.
Greece’s Anna Maria Tryfilli is the main gold medal contender at the female pinweight (46kg) who remained unbeaten during the preparation events in 2022. The 16-year-old Greek was technically better than Azerbaijan’s Aysu Ismayilova and she had the world-class footwork to beat her rival unanimously. Following the Greek medal in this weight class, Ukraine’s Taisia Pokusai, the 15-year-old top talent was too strong for Romania’s Stefania Daniela Tandarescu and joined the last four.