The EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships continued with two sessions in Budva, Montenegro. Poland’s Wiktoria Rogalinska eliminated the second top rival while Ukraine’s Anastasia Kovalchuk caused the main surprise of the day.
Altogether 154 elite female boxers from 30 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
Poland’s Wiktoria Rogalinska is still an U22 boxer but she got the right to represent the strong nation at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul. The Polish boxer opened her campaign in the Round of 32 in Budva and eliminated the defending champion. Rogalinska was highly confident after her impressive success and tried to gain the control against Greece’s Antonia Filippa Giannakopoulou in the first minute of their bantamweight (54kg) contest. The 19-year-old Greek is the EUBC European Youth Champion from 2021 therefore she knew the local environment but Rogalinska’s aggressive attacks were the key factors of the bout. Giannakopoulou proved her talent once again but the 21-year-old Polish was able to beat the Greek youngster in Budva.
The surprise of the day
Ireland’s Niamh Fay earned the gold medal at the Porec 2022 EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships and the 20-year-old boxer was one of the secret favourites at the bantamweight (54kg) in Budva. The Irish girl had better pedigree than Ukraine’s Anastasia Kovalchuk and she had the technical skills to continue her winning path. The Ukrainian returned to the national team after a break but she has different skills as in her last appearance. Kovalchuk’s progress was enough to eliminate the Irish Champion and she caused the main sensation of the day.
The Round-up
Ekaterina Sycheva competed for Russia in so many years but she did not have the chance to represent the nation in a major championship. Following her decision, she switched to Armenia and competed for her new nation at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. The Armenian bantamweight (54kg) boxer met a regional rival, Georgia’s best female hope, Ana Khunjua in Budva. Sycheva was more experienced than her Georgian opponent and she looked stronger from the first minute. The Armenian boxer was patient, landed her shots with perfect timing and she joined the quarter-finals in the event.
Finland’s Vilma Viitanen achieved medals in the EUBC Championships as a junior and U22 boxer but this is her first Elite Championships. The 21-year-old Finnish moved down to the bantamweight (54kg) but she had the speed to take the control against Germany’s Zeina Nassar in their meeting. Both boxers lost their opening contests at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul five months ago but Viitanen was the favourite of their contest on Day3. The younger Finnish has wonderful technical skills and she won all of the three rounds in each of the judges’ scorecards.
Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic won four EUBC titles as a junior and a youth boxer and this edition is her first EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships. The 19-year-old girl is Montenegro’s best hope in Budva and after her silver medal at the Mediterranean Games, she is aiming for her next strong elite results. The Montenegrin has the technical skills to keep the control against her rivals and Spain’s Maria Del Carmen Madueno was not able to find the best distance against Gojkovic on Day3.
Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova is not only a former Women’s World Champion and EUBC European Champion but she is one of the best boxers in the whole continent. She moved down to the bantamweight (54kg) this year and lost only one bout in the whole year which shows that she made a good decision. Petrova is taller than most of her opponents and opened her campaign against a Hungarian teenager, Beata Varga who competed in Budva one year ago as a youth boxer. This contest was a perfect warm-up for Petrova who advanced to the quarter-finals of this busy weight category.
Slovakia’s EUBC European U22 Champion Miroslava Jedinakova returned to the international stage but she prepared well to this Elite Championships. The best Slovakian female boxer is only 22 now but she had the technical knowledge to control her contest from the first seconds against Switzerland’s Anna Jenni. Ireland’s Women’s World Champion Amy Broadhurst won the next light welterweight (63kg) contest, she dominated her fight against Turkey’s Sema Caliskan in Budva.