(JUNE 3) The 2019 EUBC Junior Championships ended in Galati, Romania on Saturday so here we take a look at where the titles and the Gold, Silver & Bronze medals went. Thanks to EUBC for this report on the female finals.

We also include a link at the end of this article to the male finals’ report.

The EUBC tell us that ‘The host of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships was the city of Galati, Romania where boxers who were born in 2003 and in 2004 were eligible to attend in the event.

The following 35 nations took part in the event with 400 female and male boxers: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.”

Some highlights from the female finals:

“Bout of the day

Montenegro’s defending EUBC European Women’s Junior Champion Bojana Gojkovic arrived to Galati as a top favourite for the gold medal at the girl’s light bantamweight (52kg). Mr. Nikola Ruzic’s pupil had a few difficulties in the opening minute against Italy’s Sophia Mazzoni who surprised her with rapid attacks. The Italian boxer had amazing footwork in their final but Gojkovic replied to her punches and in the second part of their bout she found her best fighting range. Gojkovic became the first in the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships who could defend her throne.

Surprise of the day

Russia’s defending EUBC European Women’s Junior Champion Valeria Linkova marched into the final of the flyweight (50kg) in Galati as well. The 16-year-old Russian had to meet for the title with Ireland’s Marie Chloe Gabriel who began boxing four years ago but she is already four-time National Champion in her homelands. The 16-year-old boxer, who was born in Mauritius, landed nice jabs in the first round but Linkova also responded quickly. The Russian was slightly better in the first round but Gabriel impressed in the second. The final verdict was depended on their performance in the third when the Irish talent was able to beat the defending champion.

The Round-Up

England’s Shelby-Marie Lee eliminated Hungary’s Laura Fanni Kovacs in the semi-finals of the girl’s pinweight (46kg) which was a remarkable contest. The English girl tried to use her speed in the final against Russia’s EUBC European Schoolgirl Champion Alena Tremasova and gave in everything in their contest. The 15-year-old Russian adopted the rhythm of the contest and turned back the fight which means she won her next European title.

Russia’s Anastasia Kirienko was slightly better in the semi-finals than Ireland’s Robyn Kelly and the southpaw boxer was focused in the first round against Italy’s Federica Lombardo which was the second final of the EUBC European Confederation Women’s Junior Boxing Championships. The Russian light flyweight (48kg) boxer used her height advantage well in the final and dominated the contest against the Italian talent.

Russia’s Liana Tarasian is a newcomer in their national team who won their Junior National Championships two months ago. The Kursk-based bantamweight (54kg) boxer had to face with a taller rival Latvia’s Nikolina Boke for the gold medal in Galati. The Latvian talent tried to keep Tarasian long but the Russian was too aggressive in their battle. Tarasian caught Boke in the second with tough hooks and claimed Russia’s third female gold medal.

England’s Sacha Hickey claimed bronze medal in the last edition of the EUBC European Confederation Junior Boxing Championships in Anapa and she stepped forward in the ranking in Galati. The English featherweight (57kg) boxer had to meet her tall rival Russia’s Alina Pushkar and both tried to land jabs from longer range. Hickey impressed in the second and third rounds with her smart boxing and captured the title in Galati.

Viktoria Sawatzki has strong roots to Kazakhstan but she was born in Germany and represented them in Galati. The German lightweight (60kg) boxer had a hard road to the finals and she was not enough fresh in the title bout against Russia’s Nadezhda Golubeva. The younger EUBC European Schoolgirl Champion Russian was stronger than her German opponent and deserved to win.

Italy’s Viola Piras, who had her first contest only in 2017, had also a hard road to the finals of the girl’s light welterweight (63kg) where she had to meet with Ireland’s EUBC European Schoolgirl Champion Winnie McDonagh. The Italian boxer used her height advantage to handle their contest from the comfortable longer distance. McDonagh moved ahead and pressurized the Italian boxer but Piras managed to win their tactical final claiming her nation’s first gold medal.

Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad eliminated Estonia’s Jana Vill in the semi-final of the light middleweight (70kg) with good performance but she had to face Poland’s defending champion Zofia Stachowiak in the final. The Norwegian looked nervous in her first big final and the one-year older Pole started the opening round better. Hofstad returned in the second round following the first break with more focused boxing but Stachowiak was able to defend her throne and claimed her second EUBC title.

Russia’s EUBC European Schoolgirl Champion Valeria Vorontsova has got strong family connections to boxing and the 15-year-old talent, who eliminated Ireland’s Dearbhla Tinnelly in the semi-finals, started her final with good jabs against Poland’s Barbara Marcinkowska. The one-year younger Russian moved more on feet than her Polish rival and won her second EUBC title within a year.”

For the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) it was a memorable Championships with their boxers taking home 2 Gold,1 Silver and 6Bronze medals, many more than some of their major competitors. IABA President Dominic O’Rourke paid tribute to all the squad and coaching staff of Billy McClean, James Doyle, Gerard McDaid, John Gallagher, Aoife Hennigan after Saturday’s finals.

“All three of our boxers gave it everything. I thought Chloe boxed brilliantly today and throughout the tournament and Winnie was unlucky. It was very close, but she’s obviously got a very bright future ahead of her as she won European Schoolgirl gold last year, he said.

“Michael (Donoghue) was in top form and he can be very proud of his performances out here, we certainly are. That’s five wins in just over a week for him and you can’t ask anymore than that. Congratulations also to our coaches and team managers for the amount work they’ve put into this tournament.

“The squad have been fantastic out here. Everyone of them boxed their hearts out and with a bit of luck we might have had more medals. They’ve been absolutely brilliant and congratulations also to their clubs and club coaches who prepared them.”

Two gold medals, a silver and six bronze – which secured a top five place in the medals table at the 35-nation tournament - were on the plane with them when they arrived at Dublin Airport on Sunday evening. They also finished 3rd in the Team Rankings just above England and with only Russia and Ukraine above them Some achievement for a small nation albeit one with a remarkable boxing tradition be it Male or Female.