The first of the quarter-finals took place in the fifth competition day at the EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro. Croatia’s Sara Beram eliminated a medallist from Istanbul, while England’s Demie-Jade Resztan won over the defending World Champion.
Altogether 154 elite female boxers from 30 strong countries are participating in the EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships in Budva. Mrs. Susanne Karrlander of Sweden is the Technical Delegate of the EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships and she followed all of the contests on Day1.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales are the participating nations in Budva.
The bout of the day
England’s Demi-Jade Resztan achieved a silver medal at the 2019 EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships in Alcobendas, Spain therefore her target is the gold in the smallest weight class in Budva. The 26-year-old English opened her campaign in Montenegro with a clear success and she was highly motivated in the quarter-finals against Turkey’s defending IBA World Champion, Ayse Cagirir. The Turkish boxer used her same tactics as last time in Istanbul but Resztan followed the winning strategy from the first seconds. The English girl was able to keep the high rhythm until the end of the ninth minutes and eliminated a favourite in Budva.
The surprise of the day
Netherlands’ Chelsey Heijnen put herself into the spotlight when she earned a gold medal at the 2017 EUBC European Women’s Youth Boxing Championships. She joined the elite age group in 2018 but she needed four years of strong experiences to make a breakthrough in the highest level of boxing. Heijnen was bronze medallist at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul and she opened her campaign well against Assunta Canfora of Italy but Croatia’s Sara Beram surprised the Dutch in Budva. The Croatian worked seriously hard in the gym to be one of the strongest punchers but her tactical skills were also decisive on Day5.
The Round-up
Bulgaria’s Sevda Asenova represented her nation first at the 2007 edition of the European Women’s Boxing Championships and she is still member of the national team and she lives her golden age in 2022. Asenova won a bronze medal at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships this May and stopped her first rival in Budva. The Bulgarian minimumweight (48kg) boxer was 18-year-older than her Hungarian opponent, Lilla Szeleczki but she had the speed advantage to decide their contest. Asenova’s success means that she is a medallist in the championship once again and will be boxing for the title contest Ireland’s promising Shannon Sweeney.
The flyweight (52kg) has new faces in the EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships and among them Finland’s Emma Jokiaho turned back to his quarter-final in the beginning of the second round. She received strong advices in the first break and the Finnish boxer used them up against Hungary’s 21-year-old Hanna Lakotar. Jokiaho has less than 30 contests during her entire boxing career but her stamina delivered a success for her in Budva and Finland’s first guaranteed medal. She will be meeting with Bulgaria’s returning boxer, Venelina Poptoleva, the Youth World Champion from 2013.
Italy’s Olena Savchuk has clear boxing, she always plans to beat her opponents to overcame them with nice technical skills. The Italian competes at the flyweight (52kg) in Budva and she looked fresh from the first seconds against Ireland’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist Carly McNaul in the quarter-final. The Italian and the Irish boxer both reached the quarter-finals in Istanbul this May but only one of them could get a medal in this continental event. Savchuk had the great finish in their meeting and eliminated the veteran Irish girl which means she can box in the last four Ukraine’s No.1, Tetiana Kob.
Ireland’s Michaela Walsh achieved silver medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games but she was able to change the bright of the medal into gold in Birmingham two months ago. The 29-year-old Irish featherweight (57kg) boxer knew that her experienced Romanian opponent, Claudia Nechita has powerful punches therefore she used a different strategy to neutralize these attacks. Walsh, whose brother Aidan claimed bronze in Tokyo, worked hard the nine minutes of fight to get a medal in Budva where her semi-final rival will be Italy’s star, the defending champion, Irma Testa.