The winners of the Russian Women Boxing Championships, held these days in Ulan-Ude, will be the main candidates for participation in the European Championships, which will be held May 10-19 in Poland. Secretary General of the Boxing Federation of Russia Umar Kremlev spoke about it in an interview with the ROC Information Service.
– The tournament is very important, first of all, for qualification for the national team to participate in the upcoming European Championships, said Umar Kremlev. – 10 winners of the national championship will become main candidates for a trip to Poland. However, in the process of preparation they will still have to prove their status in sparring with the second numbers of the national team, that will also be defined during the competitions in the capital of Buryatia. I want to say that the interest for the women’s Boxing in the country has increased in recent years. More than 320 athletes applied for participation in the 2018 Russian Championships. Among them there are famous persons, for example, bronze medalist of the Rio Olympic Games Anastasia Belyakova and participant those Games Yaroslava Yakushina, who has transformed into a lighter weight category, up to 69 kg. However, there are a lot of young, ambitious athletes who renounce authorities and are ready to take on the first role.
In this context, last year’s men’s championships in Grozny turned out to be indicative. In the weight category up to 60 kg 19-year-old Albert Bayrashev created a furore. In the first fight he defeated the vice-world champion and the 2016 Olympic Games bronze medalist Vladimir Nikitin, then several more strong opponents and became the winner and the best boxer! I must say that the men’s team in this Olympic cycle has been revised by 70 percent. Similar processes are taking place in the women’s team.
Explaining why Buryatia was chosen as venue of the national championships, the Secretary General of the Boxing Federation of Russia said the following:
-Ulan-Ude and Orenburg fought for the right to host the tournament. There was an honest and transparent competition in which Buryatia offered the best conditions. This applies both to the prize fund, which is 5 million rubles, and other organizational issues.
Umar Kremlev also said when changes in the list of Olympic weight categories will be officially confirmed. Recall that at the Rio de Janeiro Games three sets of medals were contested in women’s Boxing, while in 2020 in Tokyo, the number will increase to five.
– New Olympic weight categories will be approved in July by the AIBA Executive Committee, said the Secretary General of the BFR. – Two more categories will be added to those existing three (51, 60 and 75 kg). Which? Let’s not run ahead of the story. There are different options.
