The Junior Finals of the AIBA Women’s Junior/Youth World Boxing Championships Taipei 2015 took place today, where nations such as Russia, India and the United States of America dominated the gold medal tally.

Many excellent performances in the ring delighted the watching crowd, and they all superbly displayed the uncapped potential of women’s boxing worldwide.

Bout of the day

Three-time US National Champion Guadelupe Gutierrez met with Donjeta Sadiku in the Junior Lightweight class (60 kg) final, with her opponent having already made history by becoming the first boxer from Kosovo to win a medal at an AIBA Championships.

In the final, both fighters produced strong performances full of effort and skill, but it was Gonzalez who was the superior athlete across all three rounds, as she used her power and speed to great effect.

After Gutierrez successfully managed to reduce the distance in round one, her continual attacks troubled the brave Sadiku, and Gutierrez clinched the gold medal to the delight of her coach and teammates.

Team of the day

The Indian Junior team enjoyed a great day in Taipei where they earned three gold medals.

Star boxer Savita only joined India’s national team earlier this year, yet the 15-year-old outpointed Ukraine’s Kateryna Rohova in their Junior Flyweight class (50 kg) final.

Mandeep Kaur Sandhu delivered a second Indian gold as she defeated Ireland’s Golden Girl Women’s Junior Cup winner Niamh Earley in an engrossing contest.

Her teammate Sakshi then made it a hat-trick for India after her victory over US Junior National Champion Yarisel Ramirez.

Sakshi’s wonderful footwork was a key took in avoiding the punches of the US athlete, and helped her triumph at Junior Bantamweight (54 kg).

Surprises of the day

Despite having four years of boxing experience, United States’ Zhane Crockett was not the favourite heading into in her Junior Featherweight class (57 kg) final with Russia’s two-time National Champion Liudmilla Vorontsova.

Crockett seemed unfazed by the big occasion however, starting their fight strongly with sharp right hands which defined the first 30 seconds of action.

Vorontsova safely battled through the initial storm, and managed to impose her own tactics on the bout soon after.

As the fight progressed, the defence of each competitor approached a truly world class level, as neither could find the one shot that would change the dynamic of the event.

The last round was particularly entertaining with Vorontsova marching forward, but she was picked off by Crockett’s counter-attacks, which eventually led to the American being named the winner.

Russia’s Anastasia Shamonova and Karolina Makhno of Ukraine also delivered a blistering contest in Taipei, and both had important records to defend.

The Russian boxer had suffered just one career loss prior to the beginning of this tournament, while Makhno was undefeated.

With so much at stake, the boxers produced a dazzlingly entertaining fight, which was won by Shamonova who took home the gold medal, and snapped the winning streak of the previously unbeaten Ukrainian in the process.

One to watch

After China’s Yu Lisai defeated Kazakhstan’s Laila Kussainova in the quarter-finals of the Nations Women’s Junior Cup in January, the two rematched in the final of the AIBA Women’s Junior/Youth World Boxing Championships Taipei 2015.

Their second battle followed a similar pattern to the first, as Lisai secured wicked body shots in the opening round, and continued her dominance to claim the Junior Light Welterweight class (63 kg) gold.

Quote of the day

“I think my coach and myself both performed well enough against my opponent in today’s final. My winning tactic was to stay calm, and just do what I had to do at close distance. I am very happy to get the gold, but I do not think I will have much celebration at home in Sacramento as I will continue my hard training,” said Guadelupe Gutierrez after her gold medal in the Junior Lightweight class (60 kg).

Stat/Fact of the day

Russia topped the Junior medal rankings with four golds in Taipei, while the United States of America and India both claimed three gold medals in this section of the Championships.

Results of the junior finals

46 kg:  Won Un Gyong PRK –  Beyza Saracoglu TUR 3:0

48 kg:  Heaven Garcia USA –  Soniya IND 2:1

50 kg:  Savita IND –  Kateryna Rohova UKR 2:1

52 kg:  Mandeep Kaur Sandu IND –  Niamh Earley IRL 3:0

54 kg:  Sakshi IND –  Yarisel Ramirez USA 3:0

57 kg:  Zhane Crockett USA –  Liudmilla Vorontsova RUS 2:1

60 kg:  Guadelupe Gutierrez USA –  Donjeta Sadiku KOS 3:0

63 kg:  Yu Lisai CHN –  Laila Kussainova KAZ 3:0

66 kg:  Nadezhda Ryabets KAZ –  Kylie Hall USA 2:1

70 kg:  Anastasia Sigayeva RUS –  Niharika Gonella IND 3:0

75 kg:  Anastasia Shamonova RUS –  Karolina Makhno UKR 3:0

80 kg:  Elena Litvinova RUS –  Dina Islambekova KAZ TKO 2nd round

+80 kg:  Kristina Tkacheva RUS –  Jessica Morka GER 2:1

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