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22/12/2008
Team manager's report from Yambol
1st European Women's Youth and Junior Championships, Yambol, Bulgaria. 9th - 14th December 2008.
Day 1 (09/12/08)
We arrived in Sofia at 12:45pm (local time) we then travelled to Yambol on a coach with about 30 Russians which took over 4 hours, arriving at the Hotel Tundzha about 6pm. We received our accreditation and were introduced to a young girl called Plamena, who would be our interpreter for the duration of the tournament. We had something to eat before being shown to the Hotel Riverside where we would be sleeping. This was a five minute walk away from Hotel Tundzha where meals and weigh-ins would take place. While myself and Dave Bassenger (R&J) attended the technical delegates meeting, Darren Maher (coach) took the girls for a stretch-out before returning to the hotel for a good night's sleep. At the technical delegates meeting we were informed that for this tournament they would be adopting some of the new AIBA rules which apply from January 2009. Therefore, the 15 point RSCO rule would no longer be used.
Day 2 (10/12/08)
60kg Yasmin Rogers v Marta Okrajni (Pol) RSC
Yasmin came out of the corner on the bell looking confident. As she took a step back to throw her first punch she slipped, twisting her knee on a very slippery canvass, causing her to go down and to receive a standing count from the referee. Seeing that she was unable to continue boxing the referee stopped the contest in favour of the Polish boxer without a punch being thrown by either boxer. Yasmin was seen by a doctor who checked her knee and applied a cold compress. The other three boxers took part in the opening ceremony which lasted for about an hour, after which they went for a training session with Darren whilst Yasmin rested. We then took a slow walk back to the Hotel Tundhza for our evening meal before returning to our own hotel to retire for the evening.
Day 3 (11/12/08)
57kg Carly Wealleans v Zinaida Mashkova (Rus) 3-3, 7-7.
Carly came out of the corner and, using her strong back hand, was able to score the only point of the first round. Although many shots were thrown they didn't score. Carly kept the Russian on her back foot for the majority of this closely fought bout, throwing combinations of shots. She was one point ahead in the final round but the Russian managed to even things up by scoring in the last ten seconds - making it 3-3, 7-7 on countback. The judges, having the final decision, gave it the Russian. Good boxing from Carly.
Day 4 (12/12/08) - semi finals
48kg Chloe Fairhead v Nataliya Knyaz (Ukr) 1-6
Chloe looking confident and relaxed in the corner and came out throwing many shots which unfortunately failed to score against an opponent who kept on holding and pushing Chloe into the ropes. Using her back hand, Chloe was finally able to score in the second round, but despite throwing some strong head shots, she was unable to do enough to win against the strong Ukrainian boxer. A hard but well fought bout that earned Chloe a bronze medal.
70kgSavannah Marshall v Roxana Ciordas (Rom) RSC
A confident Savannah got off to an excellent start, giving her Romanian opponent a standing count within the first 30 seconds of the round. With a score of 5-0 Savannah used her reach to her advantage and, with a strong back hand, gave the Romanian her second standing count of the round, causing the referee to stop the contest and giving Savannah a guaranteed medal and a place in tomorrow's finals.
Day 5 (13/12/08)
70kg Savannah Marshall v Gulden Mercan (Tur) RTD
Savannah was looking very at ease as she came out of the corner, her strong back hand scoring the first and only point of the first round. Even though her Turkish opponent kept trying to turn and push her, Savannah managed to keep her at distance, ending the second on a score of 2-0. A strong Savannah was then able to give the Turk a standing count during the final round, causing the Turkish coach to throw the towel in and earning Savannah a much deserved gold medal.
End Result:
70kg Savannah Marshall - Gold
48kg Chloe Fairhead - Bronze
Coach:
Darren Maher
Referee:
Dave Bassenger
Boxers:
Chloe Fairhead, Carly Wealleans, Yasmin Rogers and Savannah Marshall.
Hospitality:
These European Championships were the very first of their kind for junior and youth women's boxing, with 15 countries and 130 boxers entering. The competition was well run and organised, with interpreters provided - mainly students from the local language college. They were very helpful and friendly at all times, our interpreter spoke excellent English and soon became great friends with our boxers.
Report by Louise Gibbs, team manager