Uzbekistan claim three gold medals in the first part of the female finals at the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament

India’s ASBC Asian Women’s Youth Champion duo Vinka and Sanamacha Chanu Thokchom and Uzbekistan’s Farzona Fozilova achieved three gold medals for Asia in the first part of the female finals.

The women’s light flyweight (48kg), the featherweight (57kg), the lightweight (60kg), the light welterweight (64kg), and the middleweight (75kg) boxers were in action in the fourth day of boxing. All of the ten male weight categories competed on Day4 and one final took place at the welterweight (69kg) in Montenegro.

The Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament is a preparation event for the upcoming AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships which will be held in Kielce, Poland on April 10-24. Boxers who were born in 2002 and in 2003 are able to attend in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships therefore the local organizers in Budva decided to schedule the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament for the same age group.

Powerful nations as Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, India, Georgia and Bulgaria are all attending at the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament. The best Indian female and male boxers are there in the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament with great expectations. Head coach of the Uzbek team Mr. Hamid Tangribergenov selected eight women and fourteen youth male boxers following the training camps. Uzbekistan’s 22-strong team will be chasing for the medals and titles of the first edition of the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament in Montenegro.

India’s ASBC Asian Women’s Youth Champion Vinka moved down to the lightweight (60kg) but she had the power in the whole Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament. Vinka controlled her quarter-final and semi-final contests and proved her very best once again in the final against Moldova’s Cristina Chiper. She landed punches from every single angles and dominated the title bout with strong fighting spirit. Vinka has done a remarkable debut in her new weight category and claimed India’s first gold medal in Montenegro.

India’s next ASBC Asian Youth Champion in action was Sanamacha Thokchom Chanu who had to meet in the final of the women’s middleweight (75kg) with her fellow, Sahiba Raj. India’s next gold medal was guaranteed in their local battle which delivered tough punches and several nice exchanges. Chanu moved ahead more while Raj was not enough confident from the second round and kept longer distance to avoid the powerful combinations. Chanu had clear dominancy in the third round, her jabs reached the target and won her next international gold medal.

Uzbekistan’s Farzona Fozilova achieved bronze medal in their last edition of the Women’s National Championships at the light flyweight (48kg) at the age of 18. She trains in the city of Bukhara which is famous of its boxing schools and produced world class boxers in the recent one decade. Fozilova met in the final of the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament with India’s Gitika and she managed to win their difficult contest claiming gold medal.

Uzbekistan’s ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships silver medallist 18-year-old Amirshokh Samadov arrived to the Adriatic Pearl Youth Tournament as one of the favourites of the heavyweight (91kg). The Uzbek boxer dictated the tempo against Ukraine’s Mykhailo Ulanskyi and ruled the middle of the ring from the first seconds. Samadov reduced the fighting distance successfully and his strategy worked well in the whole contest which means he can box for the gold medal of the category.

Uzbekistan’s ASBC Asian Junior Champion Jakhongir Zokirov claimed silver medal in their Elite National Championships last November and he is one of the biggest super heavyweight (+91kg) hopes in the whole world. Zokirov will be turning to 18 this year and opened his campaign well enough against Russia’s Ivan Onishchenko. Following that success, the Uzbek pride demonstrated his power against Bulgaria’s Zlatin Ilchev and caught his opponent several times with big punches. Zokirov won the one-sided contest in Montenegro and advanced to the final of the competition.