The action at the III European Games Boxing Tournament in Krakow and Malopolska, a qualifying event of the Boxing Road to Paris series with 44 qualification slots at stake, continues today. Taking place at the Nowy Targ Arena from June 23 to July 2, the tournament showcases 319 athletes from 42 nations and the European Refugee Team, competing in 13 weight categories, including 7 men’s and 6 women’s divisions.
During today’s afternoon session, the Women’s 50kg, 57kg, and 75kg, as well as the Men’s 57kg, 71kg, and +92kg weight classes, entered the ring for their Round of 16 bouts. The victors of these matches progress to the Quarterfinal phase, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, June 28, for their respective weight categories.
In the Women’s 50kg category, Buse Naz Cakiroglu from Turkey, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist and reigning European Games champion, showcased her skills with a dominant 5-0 unanimous decision victory over Anush Grigoryan from Armenia. Cakiroglu will now face local athlete Natalia Rok from Poland, who secured a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Maxi Carina Kloetzer from Germany.
Giordana Sorrentino from Italy claimed a 4-1 victory in her bout against Great Britain’s Demie-Jade Resztan. Sorrentino’s next opponent will be Serbia’s Nina Radovanovic, who defeated Hungary’s Petra Mezei. These two boxers will meet tomorrow, on June 28, for a spot in the semifinals.
Moving on to the Women’s 57kg category, Irma Testa from Italy, the Tokyo Olympic Bronze medalist and current World and European Games champion, faced a tough challenge in her debut bout. Testa started slow, and after two rounds, the match was evenly scored. However, in the third round, she managed to gain a margin and secured a narrow 3-2 victory over Great Britain’s Elise Jacquelin Glynn. Testa will now face Spain’s Jenifer Fernandez Romero, who outscored Marianna Basanets from Ukraine with a commanding 5-0 performance.
In another Women’s 57kg match, Julia Szeremeta from Poland triumphed in a tense bout against Vilma Siiri Mar Viitanen from Finland, winning by a split decision (4-1). Szeremeta’s next opponent will be Svetlana Kameno Staneva from Bulgaria, who secured a convincing 5-0 victory over Romania’s Maria Claudia, today.
In the Women’s 75kg category, Davina-Myrha Michel from France dominated her bout against Hungary’s Timea Nagy, winning by a commanding score of 5-0. Michel will meet Italy’s Melissa Gemini in the quarterfinals. Gemini secured a 4-1 victory over Slovakia’s Jessica Triebelova earlier in the day. Additionally, Monika Langerova from Czechia claimed a 5-0 victory over Vasiliki Stavridou from Greece, while Germany’s Irina Nicoletta Schoenberger outscored Aynur Rzayeva from Azerbaijan by the same margin. Langerova and Schoenberger will face each other in an exciting quarterfinal match.
Moving to the Men’s divisions, in the Men’s 57kg category, Roland Veres from Hungary secured a 4-1 split decision victory over Murat Yildirim from Germany, despite a 1-point deduction for holding. Veres will now face Sweden’s Nebil Mahmud Ibrahim, who collected a dominant 5-0 victory over Farid Walizadeh, representing the European Refugee Team. In the other quarterfinal matchup, Artur Bazeyan from Armenia will face Bulgaria’s Javier Ibanez Diaz. Bazeyan won his bout against Matvejs Prokudins from Latvia, while Ibanez Diaz defeated Taras Bondarchuk from Ukraine.
In the Men’s 71kg weight class, Sarkhan Aliyev from Azerbaijan and Makan-Vie Traore from France advanced to the quarterfinals with victories over Eskerkhan Madiev from Georgia and Petar Kresimir Knezevic from Croatia, respectively. Gurgen Madoyan from Armenia secured an unanimous decision win against Pavel Kamanin from Estonia and will face Serbia’s Vakhid Abbasov, who claimed a 3-2 victory over Rami Mofid Kiwan from Bulgaria, in the next phase of the tournament.
Lastly, in the Men’s +92kg category, Greece’s Stylianos Roulias secured a convincing victory over Jure Simunovic from Slovenia, recording a score of 5-0. Roulias will now face Mahammad Abdullayev from Azerbaijan, who defeated Nikoloz Begadze from Georgia by a score of 3-1. Spain’s Ayoub Ghadfa Drissi El Ai dominated his match against Ukraine’s Dmytro Lovchynskyi and earned a unanimous decision victory. He will meet Germany’s Nelvie Raman Tiafack, who outdid Djamili-Dini Aboudou Moindze from France on points, by split decision.
The stage is almost set for the quarterfinals in these weight categories: this evening’s session will complete the brackets for tomorrow’s matchup.
Remember, you can access the official results and drawsheets on the European Games official website at: https://results.european-games.org/EG2023/ENG/reports/BOX/all-event/.
Additionally, you can view photo galleries at https://boxing.athlete365.org/boxing-road-to-paris-2024/europ-photo-galleries/ and watch live or playback the bouts on the European Games TV at https://europeangames.tv/sports/boxing.
