North Macedonia’s Alen Rustemovski guaranteed a senior European boxing medal on Wednesday, 23 September, while Spain enjoyed three wins from three bouts in the afternoon session of the European Elite Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Rustemovski defeated Armenia’s Artur Bazeyan by a 4:1 split decision in the men’s 60kg quarter-finals to secure at least bronze. His achievement adds to North Macedonia’s European boxing medal history, following Veli Mumin’s bronze medals in 2006 and 2008. Rustemovski will face Ukraine’s Aider Abduraimov in the semi-finals.
Serbia’s Sara Cirkovic produced one of the day’s biggest upsets in the women’s 54kg division, defeating Türkiye’s Olympic silver medallist Buse Naz Cakiroglu by a 3:2 split decision to reach the semi-finals.
Spain’s Laura Fuertes Fernandez reached the women’s 51kg final after defeating Germany’s Maxi Klötzer by a 3:2 split decision. She will face Türkiye’s Hatice Akbas, who overcame Poland’s Natalia Kuczewska by a 5:0 unanimous decision.
Finland’s Pihla Kaivo-Oja and the Czech Republic’s Lenka Bernardova both secured medals at women’s 54kg. Kaivo-Oja defeated France’s Wassila Lkhadiri 4:1, while Bernardova recorded a 5:0 victory over England’s Lauren Mackie.
France’s Sthelyne Grosy eliminated England’s former world champion Amy Broadhurst by a 4:1 split decision in the women’s 60kg quarter-finals and will face Türkiye’s Gizem Ozer in the semi-finals. Serbia’s Kristina Kuluhova also advanced at 60kg, where she will meet Kosovo’s world bronze medallist Donjeta Sadiku.
Hungary’s Luca Hamori reached the women’s 65kg final after defeating Poland’s Kinga Krowka 4:1. She will face Russia’s Azaliia Amineva, who defeated Armenia’s Elida Kocharyan by a 5:0 unanimous decision.
Türkiye’s Olympic champion Busenaz Surmeneli reached the women’s 70kg final after defeating Russia’s Nadezhda Golubeva by a 3:2 split decision. England’s Chantelle Reid joined her in the final after overcoming Serbia’s Milena Matovic by the same margin.
Bulgaria’s Radoslav Rosenov defeated Russia’s Vsevolod Shumkov 3:2 in the men’s 60kg quarter-finals and will face Spain’s Ewart Andres Marin Hernandez, who edged Ireland’s Jude Gallagher by the same score.
Serbia’s Rastko Simic, Russia’s Chezrav Ashalaev, England’s Oladimeji Shittu and Ukraine’s Pavlo Illiusha all secured medals in the men’s 80kg division.
Spain’s Olympic and world bronze medallist Enmanuel Reyes Pla reached the men’s 90kg final after defeating Georgia’s Georgii Kushitashvili by a 3:2 split decision. He will face Türkiye’s Emrah Yasar, who defeated Germany’s Kevin Lebowski 5:0.
The evening session brought further quarter-final and semi-final action, with more medals guaranteed and places in the finals decided.
Bulgaria’s Rami Kiwan advanced to the men’s 75kg semi-finals after defeating Poland’s Mateusz Urban by a 5:0 unanimous decision. He will face Russia’s Ismail Mutsolgov in the last four.
Ireland’s Michaela Walsh produced another major upset in the women’s 57kg division, eliminating home favourite and former world champion Stanimira Petrova by a 5:0 unanimous decision. Walsh will face Hungary’s Vladislava Kukhtain the semi-finals. Türkiye’s Esra Yildiz Kahraman also advanced at 57kg and will face Russia’s Liudmila Vorontsova.
Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota defeated Türkiye’s Nurselen Yalgettekin 4:1 to reach the women’s 48kg final, where she will meet Russia’s Iulia Chumgalakova.
Türkiye’s Busra Isildar defeated Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad by a 3:2 split decision in the women’s 75kg semi-finals. She will face Ireland’s Aoife O’Rourke, who secured a 4:1 victory over Russia’s Saltanat Medenova.
Ireland’s Lisa O’Rourke joined her sister in the finals after defeating Ukraine’s Iryna Lutsak by a 5:0 unanimous decision in the women’s 80kg semi-finals. She will face Russia’s Anastasiia Demurchian for gold.
Türkiye’s Havvanur Kethuda also reached the women’s +80kg final after stopping Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik. She will face Russia’s Ksenia Olifirenko.
Azerbaijan’s Subhan Mamedov advanced to the men’s 50kg final after defeating Türkiye’s Samet Gumus by a 3:2 split decision and will meet Russia’s Bair Batlaev.
France’s Hugo Grau defeated Finland’s Ismail Umar 4:1 in the men’s 65kg semi-finals and will face Ukraine’s Elvin Aliiev for gold. Russia’s Sergei Koldenkov also reached the men’s 70kg final, where he will meet Azerbaijan’s Nabi Isgandarov.
France’s Junior Tadah defeated Austria’s Michael Fares Derouiche by a 4:1 split decision to reach the men’s 85kg final, where he will face Russia’s Dmitrii Karmanov. England’s Commonwealth Games champion Damar Thomas and Russia’s David Surov will contest the men’s +90kg final.
Today’s two sessions will take place at 13:30 and 18:00 local time. The schedule, live results and additional event information are available at bul.xboxing.world.
The entire competition will be livestreamed on https://eurovisionsport.com/en.
World Boxing will be posting updates throughout on its social media channels:
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Press release issued by European Boxing Federation and adapted by World Boxing.