The new edition of the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament opened in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina with its first competition day. Lithuania’s Vytautas Balsys won the tightest contest of the first day when Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic, Poland’s Filip Wachala and Hungary’s Milan Fodor were among the bout winners.
The women’s elite, women’s youth, men’s elite and men’s youth boxers are able to participate at the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament in the Bosnian & Herzegovian capital. The Technical Delegate of the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament is Mr. Adam Kusior of Poland.
The international event is a preparation competition for the upcoming IBA Youth World Boxing Championships which will be held in La Nucia-Benidorm on November 13-27. The tournament also gives opportunity for those who are planning to attend at the EUBC European Women’s Boxing Championships and ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships.
Division General Mustafa Hajrulahovic Talijan was Bosnia & Herzegovina’s commander and hero in the end of the last century and a new boxing tournament was named after him which shows his excellent popularity in Sarajevo. The tournament was held at the Dom Mladih Skenderija Sports Centre in the recent years but the venue moved to the Hotel Hills Sarajevo Congress & Termal Spa Resort.
The bout of the day
Lithuania’s Vytautas Balsys was silver medallist at the 2016 EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships in Anapa. After six years of U22 and elite experiences, he is one of the top boxers in their national team in Lithuania. Balsys had a Jordanian opponent in the first day of boxing, Anas Zeyad Alsadi who is a new young prospect in their squad. Jordan uses the Mustafa Hajrulahovic Memorial Tournament as preparation before their ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships which will be held in their capital city in Amman. Alsadi was highly competitive in the first and second rounds but the 24-year-old Lithuanian decided their middleweight (75kg) bout in the third.
The Round-Up
Montenegro will be the host of the next edition of the EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Budva next month and their boxers travelled to Sarajevo to meet strong rivals before the main event. Bojana Gojkovic is only 19-year-old but she is their team captain in the women’s national team and a high hope in the upcoming championships. The two-time EUBC European Youth Champion faced Ireland’s Jennifer Lehane in the first day of boxing and she succeeded in a right contest at the bantamweight (54kg).
Hungary’s Gabor Virban won the last edition of their Elite National Championships and he participated at the recent EUBC European Men’s Boxing Championships in Yerevan. The Hungarian bantamweight (54kg) boxer controlled the first round against Slovenia’s newcomer Damir Azizovski and took the lead on the scorecards. The 24-year-old Hungarian was better in all aspects of boxing than his Slovenian rival was and advanced to the nest stage of tournament in Sarajevo.
Slovenia’s Nejc Petric competed at the Sofia 2019 EUBC Youth European Boxing Championships and after his hard work, he was invited to the elite national team. The 21-year-old welterweight (67kg) boxer dominated the opening minutes against Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Bojan Zecevic and he had the massive 10:8 advantages in all of the judges scorecards after the first round. Petric felt that he can finish the bout earlier than the last gong and landed the heavy shots to stop his local rival in Sarajevo.
Poland’s Filip Wachala represented his nation in several events including at the Minsk 2019 European Games and the AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships. The next edition of the European Games will be held in Poland and Wachala works hard to regain his position in the national squad. Wachala was too strong for Austria’s Yasin Bolut and the referee stopped their contest in Sarajevo. Hungary’s experienced Milan Fodor also won his contest against Palestine’s Nidal Foqahaa by RSC and advanced to the next stage of boxing at the welterweight (67kg).
