All of the eleven junior finals took place in the fifth competition day at the 17th edition of the Silesian Women’s Open Tournament in Gliwice, Poland. The Polish talents earned six gold medals in the junior finals on Day5 when Ukraine’s Aurika Kostrytska and Denmark’s Nadja Munkholm proved their amazing technical skills. The youth and the elite finals will be held in the sixth and last competition day.
The new 17th edition of the Silesian Open will be preparation events for the upcoming IBA Youth World Boxing Championships, EUBC European Women’s Elite Boxing Championships, ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and the EUBC European Junior Boxing Championships. The Technical Delegate of the Silesian Women’s Open Tournament is Mr. Dragoljub Radovic of Montenegro.
The competition is being held for the women’s elite, youth and junior boxers in Gliwice. The Event Director Mr. Henryk Wilk is the engine of the Silesian Women’s Open Tournament who launched the competition to develop female boxing in Poland and in the entire European continent.
The bout of the day
Poland’s Natalia Rok is the host nation’s best boxer at the elite light flyweight (50kg) who worked hard in the previous rounds of the Silesian Women’s Open Tournament to join the finals. The Polish boxer had a dangerous semi-final opponent, Kazakhstan’s Zhazira Urakbayeva who caused a surprise in the previous session. The Kazakh girl moved more on feet and worked mostly from longer distance but Rok’s pressure decided their semi-final bout. The Polish girl will be boxing for the title of this strong weight class with another Kazakh boxer, Nazym Kyzaibay, the two-time World Champion.
The Round-Up
Slovakia’s Nicole Durikova joined the elite national team in 2020 following her youth successes and she competed several major championships in the recent nearly three years. The 21-year-old Slovakian had a Norwegian rival in the semi-finals of the minimumweight (48kg), Francine Veronika Lukungu Ahadi who had strong performance in the 2021 Silesian Open. The Slovakian girl used her distance better than the Norwegian and took the lead on the judges’ scorecards after three minutes. Durikova continued her strong performance throughout the whole contest which means she can box for the title against Kazakhstan’s top favourite Alua Balkybekova.
The Czech girls proved fantastic performance in the Silesian Women’s Open Tournament and two of their elite boxers advanced to the finals in Gliwice. Nela Freiherrova returned to the national team this year and she is now a finalist in the Open following her success over Poland’s Patrycja Cieslik in the last four of the flyweight (52kg). Her teammate, the 21-year-old Lenka Bernardova controlled all of the three rounds against Lithuania’s Ana Starovoitova and she is finalist at the lightweight (60kg). Bernardova’s next opponent will be a former World Champion, Italy’s Alessia Mesiano who bowed out her ex-compatriot, Valentina Bustamante of Chile in a hectic fight.
Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli is two-time World Champion at the welterweight (66kg) and the biggest name in the entire Silesian Open Women’s Tournament. The Turkish star had a tough rival, Thailand’s Youth Olympic Games winner Panpatchara Somnuek and Surmeneli had to do her very best in this semi-final bout. Surmeneli landed the stronger punches against the 21-year-old Thai and will be meeting for the title with Poland’s Aneta Rygielska who had a great triumph over Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova.
All of the junior finals were scheduled in the fifth competition day in Gliwice where the Polish girls claimed six out of the eleven gold medals. Natalia Niewiadomska won the first final of the Silesian Open, she defeated Julia Sikora at the pinweight (46kg). The second Polish gold medal was achieved by Nadia Formela who had a unanimous success over Julia Kowalska at the light flyweight (48kg). The best Polish junior hopes for the upcoming EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships such as Oliwia Araszewska (70kg) and Malgorzata Poreba (75kg) won their weight categories in Gliwice.
France’s Teresi Maloe eliminated a Hungarian opponent in the last four of the junior flyweight (50kg) and she faced another good opponent, the Hungarian-descent German, Bianka Balint in the final. The French girl controlled her next fight in Gliwice and delivered her nation’s first gold medal in the Silesian Open. Another new junior sensation in this event, Netherlands’ Aaliyah-Lorraine Hoppema won the title of the welterweight (66kg) following her success over Norway’s Helene Berg. Ukraine’s Aurika Kostrytska was too experienced for Hungary’s Sara Nyogeri in a junior final at the light bantamweight (52kg). The technician Ukrainian stopped the Hungarian attacks and her patient style delivered a gold medal for her. Ukraine’s next gold medal was achieved by Uliana Besfamilnaya at the bantamweight (54kg), she defeated Netherlands’ Tara-Henriette Vogels by unanimous decision. Denmark’s top talent Nadja Munkholm dominated all of her junior contests at the featherweight (57kg), including the final against Ukraine’s Veronika Pankevych.
