(JULY 2) The 7th edition of the
Women’s European Union Championships opened Monday at the Hotel
Helikon Sport and Conference Centre in Keszthely on the shores
of beautiful Lake Balaton in Hungary.
For the first time these Championships also incorporate the
Youth and Junior Championships so for those present this week an
opportunity to see in action the stars of today and some of
Europe’s future Rio 2016 Olympic hopes.
Among the top boxers competing in Keszthely are Olympic Gold
medallists, England’s Nicola Adams and Ireland’s Katie Taylor,
the latter in search of a record 15th successive Gold medal in
major International championships.
First ,here with thanks to the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC)
,some historical on these Championships, in which some 218
athletes from 23 countries have entered the Senior, Youth and
Junior events.
The 2006 Championships were first held in the Area Teleferica in
Porto Torres, Sardinia, Italy from June 6 to June 11 2006,when
some 78 fighters representing 17 federations competed in 13
weight divisions. Turkey was the most successful country with 2
gold, 4 silver and four bronze medals.
The second edition took place in the Palais St Sauveurs in
Lille, France from December 4 to December 8 2007. 76 boxers,
from 15 National Teams, competed in 13 weight divisions. France,
the host country, were top team thanks to 3 gold, 1 silver and 4
bronze medals.
The Greenbank Sports Academy in Liverpool staged the third
edition, from August 4 to August 8 2008. 80 Boxers, on behalf of
17 Nations, fought in 13 weight Categories. Turkey returned to
top spot on the medals table with 4 gold and 4 bronze medals.
Host country England won its first gold medals in these
competitions, thanks to Lucy Abel and Lesley Sackey . So too did
Ireland courtesy of 60 kg World Champion Katie Taylor. In
Hungary Taylor is seeking a fifth EU title in a row.
The 2009 event was in the city of Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, The
competition lasted 5 days, from June 24 to June 28. Some 62
athletes, representing 12 National federations, competed in 11
weight categories. England came out on top , gaining 3 gold and
2 bronze medals through Sharon Holford, Natasha Jonas (at 64kg)
and Savannah Marshall. The 60kg title went to Katie Taylor.
The Hotel Helikon in Keszthely, where this year’s competition is
being staged, was the venue of the 5th edition of the
tournament, Hungary from August 4 to August 7 2010. 107 e
entrants from 21 federations challenged for the medal in 11
Weight categories. The Turkish line-up was top team in the medal
standings, achieving 7 medals (3 gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze) and
yes the lightweight crown came Taylor’s way.
The last European Union Amateur Boxing Championships were held
in the Spodek Stadium in Katowice (Poland) from June 6 to June
11 2011. There some 84 fighters, coming from 20 National Teams,
competed in 10 weight divisions. Host country Poland finished
the edition as overall medal table leader, thanks to 4 gold and
6 silver Turkey, which their boxers got 2 gold, 1 silver and 1
bronze, was the runner-up squad. Ireland’s Katie Taylor won her
fourth straight gold in the 60 kg division.
The European Union Championships are open to any European Union
country (old or new – Croatia joined only today (1 July) but
also open to those countries who have signified a serious desire
to join the E.U in future.
Invitations went out from the EUBC to : All EUBC National
Federations – European Union’s Members, candidates and potential
candidates:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom (England, Scotland,
Wales) +
Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Albania,
Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Kosovo.
England and Wales have both sent teams and naturally the strong
English squad includes GB Olympic stars Nicola Adams, Natasha
Jonas and Savannah Marshall as well as Talia Anthony and Lisa
Whiteside whilst Charlene Jones (at 60 kg) and Lynsey Holdaway
will be the Welsh representatives with world no 2 ,Lynsey in
particular hoping to be ‘on top of the podium’ come finals day
on 7th July.
Ireland has the 2nd largest team in the tournament, 26 boxers
with only Hosts Hungary having more with 33.
In today’s preliminary round, there were wins for England’s
Jonas and Adams as well as for Poland’s world no.3 Sandra Drabik.
The latter defeated the young up and coming Irish star, Ceire
Smith from Cavan winning 2: 1 on a majority decision.
Drabik got the verdict after a great fight though Irish coach
Pete Taylor felt that Smith was somewhat unlucky.
“I thought Ceire was brilliant against the World number three
and I thought she did enough to win it, said Pete Taylor, who
was working Smith’s corner today.
“It was a very close fight, but unfortunately for us the Polish
girl got it on a split decision.”
Nicola Adams and Natasha Jonas both had convincing wins for
England. The 30 years old Adams from Leeds overcame the
challenge of Italy’s Terry Gordini who took a standing count in
the final round. Adams had undergone hand surgery at the end of
2012.
She told BBC Sport: “Adams told BBC Sport: "It's quite tough,
everybody wants to beat the number one, everybody wants to beat
Nicola Adams. Every time I get in there now I've got to live up
to the hype.
"I was a bit ring-rusty, I haven't boxed since the games last
year so she put me through my paces and I'm glad it went all
four rounds."
Friend and teammate Jonas defeated Ester Konecna of the Czech
Republic.
The 29-year-old Liverpool lightweight dominated her opponent and
was well on top from the opening bell, forcing her opponent to
take three standing counts.
She anticipates meeting Katie Taylor again in Hungary, after
losing that epic Olympic quarter-final bout which was deemed to
be the best fight of the 2012 Olympics, male or female, by many
experts.
"At the Olympics I did what I could at the time and you move on
from that, learn from it and hopefully we'll see the
improvements," she told the BBC.
"You've got to beat the best to be the best. I always plan to
get to the final and Taylor does the same. We're always going to
meet somewhere along the line."
Today’s Results:
RING A
51 Kg Marta Branas
Rumbo (ESP) vs Sallaamaari Hannonen
(FIN) 0-3
51 Kg Katalin Ancsin (HUN) vs Lenka Kardova (Cech) 3-0
51 Kg Terry Gordini (ITA) vs Nicola Adams (ENG) 0-3
51 Kg Monika Bozicko (SLO) vs Abbygail Deekman (NDL)0-3
51 Kg Sandra Drabik (POL) vs Ceire Smith (IRL) 2-1
51 Kg Lydia Boussadia (FRA) vs Hikmet Arisoy (TUR) 3-0
60 Kg Jennifer Miranda Maqueda (ESP) vs Vaida Valskyte (LIT) 2-1
RING B
48 Kg Lynsey Holdaway (WAL) vs Sevda Asenova (BUL) 3-0
48 Kg Lynne McEnery (IRL) vs Meltem Akar (TUR) 0-3
48 Kg Talia Anthony (ENG) vs Anita Bode (HUN) 1-2
48 Kg Sarah Bormann (GER) vs Valeria Calabrese (ITA) 0-3
60 Kg Romina Marenda (ITA) vs Estelle Mossely (FRA) 1-2
60 Kg Ester Konecna (Cech) vs Natasha Jonas (ENG) 0-3
60 Kg Tasheena Bugar (GER) vs Karolina Graczyk (POL) 0-3
All the results here from all previous editions of the
championships, courtesy the excellent Strefa.pl :
Link
This year’s entrants at the EUBC Championships are here courtesy
EUBC :
Link
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