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02/12/2008
Historic medal win for Nicola
Photograph courtesy of AIBA
NINGBO CHINA
19 - 30 November 2008
Number of countries entered: 42
England team
54kg Nicola Adams (Bradford Police and College ABC)
57kg Lucy Abel (Royal Navy)
63kg Natasha Jonas (Rotunda ABC)
66kg Amanda Coulson (Hartlepool Catholic ABC)
Preliminaries
54kg Nicola Adams v Lyundmyla Hrytsay (Ukraine)
Nicola started well, not planting her feet and giving her strong opponent opportunity to connect with her powerful shots, the first round ending 1-0 up. She returned into the second fast, phasing and frustrating her opponent and causing her to hold, Nicola holding her ground and looking relaxed and classy with a 3-1 lead. Determined to attack as soon as the bell went into the third, Hrytsay came forward with Nicola meeting her, slipping every shot the Ukrainian threw and countering with flurries of shots to head and body, making the experienced Ukraine look very ordinary and giving Nicola a well deserved 8-1 win.
66kg Amanda Coulson v Mary Spencer (Canada)
Amanda entered the ring knowing she would have to pull out all the stops against the ex world champion, treating this preliminary as if it were the final. The Canadian was to take the first point, Amanda struggling to get in range against her tall opponent, ending the round points down with a score of 1-3. The second much like the first with Amanda trying hard to get inside, throwing combinations but unable to score, ending the second with a score of 1-7. Amanda still composed and focused knew she had to stop her opponent in order to win, throwing powerful combinations, scoring three points instantly, her Canadian opponent started running, Amanda chasing, trying to close her down, although her tricky opponent continued moving ending in a 4-13 defeat, and a very disappointed Amanda.
54kg Nicola Adams v Liudmila Bondarenko (Russia)
Nicola entered the bout confident and relaxed, again frustrating her opponent, causing her to throw Nicola to the floor in the second, and taunting her in the third. Nicola remained composed, throwing flurries of two and three shot combinations, drawing her opponent onto the shot, switching stance throughout the bout and looking very classy. She ended with in a well deserved win and a place in the final.
57kg Lucy Abel v Christina Kloster Nielsen Malene (Denmark)
Lucy started well against her awkward southpaw opponent, going forward and putting the Dane on her back foot. The second round became quite scrappy, her opponent holding and Lucy using the opportunity to throw powerful body shots. In the final round the Dane used the ring well, Lucy cutting her down and able to score another point and well-deserved place in the semi finals.
63kg Natasha Jonas v Thi Thu Huong Ngugen (Vietnam)
Natasha started well, catching her opponent with accurate back hands and ending the first round 3-1. During the second she used the jab as a range-finder, connecting with the powerful back hand and knocking her opponent's head back every time, the Vietnamese girl slapping and constantly getting warned, finishing the third 9-1. Going into the third Natasha knew all she had do was jab and move, her gutsy opponent still trying to score, throwing slaps and resulting in the referee deducting a point with only seconds to go. The final score was 13-1 and an excellent win and place in the quarter finals for Natasha.
Quarter finals
54kg Nicola Adams v Lorna Weaver (France)
Nicola entered the ring confident and relaxed, taking the lead instantly, drawing her opponent in, catching her with flurries of shots, then switching stance. She was reacting instantly with the back hand, catching the French girl every time and ending the round 2-1 up. Aware of the shots that were scoring, Nicola continued to domineer the second round, with the French girl becoming more and more frustrated. Nicola glided around the ring, looking a class above her opponent. Entering the third, Weaver tried everything to get to her opponent, walking on to Nicola's shots and showing her frustration, but she was unable to catch Nicola, giving the English boxer in a much deserved win and a place in the semi final - the final score 7-2.
57kg Lucy Abel v Edina Pezdany (Hungary)
Lucy entered the ring calm and ready to give it her all, throwing accurate jabs that connected every time but failing to register. She ended the first round 4-0 down, knowing the only way she was to score was to step in with her shots. This initially worked for her, with the jab snapping the girl's head back every time. Lucy managed to pull back the score to 4-5. In the third Lucy continued going forward, launching an out-and-out war. Pulling even with a minute to go, Lucy threw in eveything she had, boxing out of her skin. The Hungarian continued to move with Lucy chasing her. The final score was 8-6, an outstanding performance from Lucy.
63kg Natasha Jonas v Liubov Lopatina (Russia)
More relaxed than the previous day, Natasha knew what she had to do. The Russian was the first to score, Natasha moving onto her opponent's shots, unable to get on the out side and ending the first down 3-1. Natasha went into the second strong, catching her opponent with back hands and hooks, although still going left and onto her opponents back hand. She did, however, react instantly, going forward with powerful combinations and ending the third 2-6. For the final round Natasha knew she had to dig deep in order to score, and the third was her best scoring round - the Russian continuing to hold, leaving Natasha frustrated and disappointed with the final score of 4-9 and her dream of a medal shattered.
Semi final
54kg Nicola Adams v Cynthia Marella Moreno (USA)
Moreno was baffled by the speed and style with which Nicola performed in her semi final contest. A relaxed Adams began to throw combinations of head and body shots, the American keeping a tight guard, with Nicola reacting immediately, connecting every time. By the end of the first Nicola was up 4-0, going into the second calm and composed and catching the American with devastating body shots, ending the round 7-0. The final round and although well ahead on points, Nicola continued to be busy, switching head and body as well as stance, throwing combinations of powerful right and left hooks to the body, followed by hooks and uppercuts to the head and once again looking a total class above her opponent. Moreno was unable to lay a glove on Nicola throughout the whole of the bout, with Nicola taking a 10-0 win and a place in the final of the World Championships and a place in England's history books.
Final
Nicola Adams v Karolina Michalczuk (Poland)
Nicola went into the bout focused, knowing she had to work hard and box clever against the powerful Michalczuk, who had boxed well throughout the tournament. Nicola moved well, catching her opponent when switching with the backhand and taking her four points up, but Michalczuk came back, throwing combinations and coming forward, ending the first 4-4. Nicola knew she would have to keep a tight guard, her opponent holding and roughing her up, resulting in Nicola receiving a public warning. By the third, Nicola was unable to catch up and the result was a 6-10 defeat but a place on the podium and a world ranking of number two.