After the rest day, the 24 semi-finals took place in the seventh competition day at the EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro. Poland’s 2019 silver medallist Aneta Rygielska delivered the top sensation of the semi-finals eliminating Turkey’s two-time Women’s World Champion Busenaz Surmeneli.
Twenty-one countries earned at least one medal in the EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships and among them, 12 have finalists in Budva. Ireland, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland are the most successful countries after the semi-finals.
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
Irma Testa is the defending champion at the featherweight (57kg) and she used all of her skills once again to join another important final. She claimed a silver medal at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul five months ago and she has the chance to win the weight class in Budva. The 25-year-old Italian had a powerful rival, Ireland’s Michaela Walsh who earned finally a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games after two silvers. The Irish girl tried to reduce the fighting distance in the first and second rounds but Testa had efficient counter-attacks from her bets range, which means, the Italian won this narrow semi-final. Testa used her head successfully and she will be boxing with her main rival. Bulgaria’s Svetlana Kamenova who defeated the Italian one month ago.
The surprise of the day
Poland’s Aneta Rygielska earned a silver medal at the 2019 EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships in Alcobendas, Spain but after so many years at the lightweight (60kg), she moved up to the welterweight (66kg) a few months ago. The Polish boxer feels herself well enough in this new division and she had strong successes in the events this year. Rygielska is in her career’s best shape but she was not a favourite against Turkey’s powerful two-times World Champion, Busenaz Surmeneli. The Polish girl is relatively tall at the welterweight, and her coaches built up a wonderful plan against Surmeneli and Rygielska succeeded surprisingly, causing the main sensation of the entire championships.
The Round-up
Italy’s Roberta Bonatti had unlucky draw in the previous major championships and she lost these contests by split decisions from the stars of the minimumweight (48kg). The 25-year-old Italian was highly motivated in the entire championships and she proved her very best against England’s 2019 silver medallist, Demie-Jade Resztan in the semi-finals. Bonatti had nearly 120 contests during her career and she delivered her best performance with perfect timing. Bonatti followed Emanuele Renzini’s instructions and will now meet for the title Bulgaria’s bronze medallist from Istanbul, Sevda Asenova.
Ukraine’s Tetiana Kob is a veteran boxer with 15 years of international experiences but she is still fresh enough as Asenova to beat all of her younger rivals in this championship. The 35-year-old Rio Olympian faced another Ukrainian-descent boxer, Olena Savchuk who has been representing Italy since 2019. Kob was smaller but her pressure paid off already in the first round when she took the lead on the judges’ scorecards. The Ukrainian not only controlled the further parts of the semi-final but she saved some fuel for the final of the flyweight (52kg) against Bulgaria’s returning Venelina Poptoleva.
Armenia’s Ani Hovsepyan is one of the strongest punchers in the whole globe who proved her power once again, this time at the EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships. The Armenian has eight years of international adventure and the 24-year-old boxer managed to win her semi-finals at the light middleweight (70kg). Hovsepyan moved forward without any stoppage and controlled all of the five rounds against Montenegro’s Tamara Radunovic. Hovsepyan’s success means that she is Armenia’s first finalist since Armine Sinabian’s silver medal in 2011 but she can improve that into gold against Ireland’s Christina Desmond on Saturday.
Lithuania’s Gabriele Stonkute is her nation’s first ever Women’s World Champion and the 21-year-old youngster plans to increase her major titles in Budva. The Baltic boxer dominated the first round against Ukraine’s Raisa Piskun and she had the clear advantage in all of the judges’ scorecards after three minutes. Stonkute increased the tempo in the beginning of the second round and the referee stopped their semi-final in the second round. The Lithuanian light heavyweight (81kg) boxer will be facing with a well-known rival, Poland’s two-times EUBC European U22 Champion, Martyna Jancelewicz.
Bojana Gojkovic became Montenegro’s first ever finalist in an EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships following her triumph over Armenia’s Ekaterina Sycheva at the bantamweight (54kg). The 19-year-old Montenegrin will be meeting with one of the new Ukrainian sensations, Anastasia Kovalchuk. The Czechs will have also a finalist, their 21-year-old new pride, Lenka Bernardova eliminated her Lithuanian rival to have the chance to meet in the lightweight (60kg) title bout with Ireland’s star, Kellie Harrington.