Saunders out but seven Brits march on in European Champs
Great Britain's amateur team have painted Moscow red, white and blue at this year's European Championships.
Seven of the team are due to box for guaranteed bronze medals. Obed Mbwakongo (Lynn ABC), Tommy Stubbs (Northside ABC), Khalid and Gamal Yafai (Birmingham City Police), Tom Stalker (Salisbury ABC) and Iain Weaver (Golden Ring) have progressed to the quarter finals, while Warren Baister (Sunderland) was unlucky against Jozseph Darnos of Hungary.
Weaver has had a particularly impressive tournament so far, beating Italy's world champion Domenico Valentino in the first round. Unfortunately, County Durham's Beijing Olympian Bradley Saunders saw his fight stopped on a cut in the second round when he was 8-4 up.
Results so far:
Saturday 5th June:
48kg: Tommy Stubbs beat Marius Vysnuiaukas (Lithuania) 9-3
Following two closely fought rounds with scores poised at 2-2, the triple ABA champion took the bout away from the Lithuanian in the last, using his reach to great effect to end up a convincing 9-3 winner. Tommy will box Irishman Paddy Barnes for a bronze medal on 9th June.
54kg: Gamal Yafai beat Peter Moyshenzon (Israel) 11-1
Gamal took command from the opening bell, racing to a 6-0 first round lead with a series of hard shots. A couple more in the second and a trio of points in the last was more than enough to secure a decisive win against the Israeli.
57kg: Iain Weaver beat Rodrigues Molina (Spain) 11-3
3-O up after the first round, Iain controlled the contest throughout, breaching the Spaniard's defences regularly, before running out a comfortable winner. Iain will box Bashir Hassan-Salad of Sweden in the last 16 on Monday.
75kg: Anthony Ogogo beat Peter Mullenberg (Netherlands) 7-0
After a cagey opening, Anthony took a 1-0 lead in the first round, extending this to 3-0 by the end of the second. The Lowestoft boxer chalked up another four points in the final round to finish a 7-0 winner. Anthony will box Darren O'Neill for a place in the quarter-finals.
81kg: Stephen Simmons lost to Ioannis Militopoulos (Greece) 9-4
In the first round Stephen recovered from a 3-0 deficit to finish on level terms. However, three more points conceded in the second left too much ground to recover and although Stephen boxed valiantly in the last, it wasn't to be.
81kg: Obed Mbwakongo beat Kennedy Katende (Sweden) 6-3
Using his jab and reach to great effect Obed raced to a 4-0 first round lead. A point apiece in a scrappy second left Obed with a four point lead going into the last and despite receiving a standing count, he ran out a 6-3 winner. Obed will compete against either Ozgul of Turkey or Nikolic of Serbia in the last 16.
Sunday 6th June:
51kg: Khalid Yafai beat Aleksander Aleksandrov (Bulgaria) 6-4
After a close first round in which the scores were level at 1-1, Kal went ahead in the second, scoring with a heavy body shot and with another in the third. Kal eventually finished with a 6-4 victory. Khalid is through to the quarters where he will box the Armenian, Derenik Gizhlaryan, for a guaranteed bronze.
64kg: Bradley Saunders lost to Samir Machrouh (France) RSC
Bradley stormed into a 6-1 lead in the first round with a series of telling shots. With the score 8-4 to Bradley late in the second round, the referee referred him to the ringside doctor with a cut, and the contest was disappointingly stopped.
64kg: Lewis Rees lost to Onur Sipal (Turkey) 10-1
Lewis got off to a slow start and was 3-0 down at the end of the first. He was never able to get into the contest, and the Turk added seven more points in the final two rounds to win convincingly.
75kg: Anthony Ogogo lost to Darren O'Neill (Ireland) 10-1
Anthony fell behind early and was unable to recover against the experienced Irishman. Going into the final round 5-1 down, Anthony went forward in an attempt to get back into the bout, but this allowed his opponent to steal the points required for a good win.
81kg: Obed Mbwakongo beat Onder Ozgul (Ukraine) 7-0
A penalty against the cumbersome Turk gave Obed a 2-O lead going into the second round. The Bermondsey boxer then took command using his reach and speed to leave the Turk chasing shadows for the rest of the contest before finishing with a 7-0 win. Obed goes into the quarters where he'll box the Frenchman Abdelkader Bouhenia for a bronze medal.
Monday 7th June:
54kg: Andrew Selby beat Pedro Matos (Portugal) 6-3
After a first round in which Andrew threw most of the punches the scores were level at 1-1. Andrew edged into a 3-2 lead in the second round and in the last dominated striking with the cleanest shots to score a 6-3 victory. Andrew will box for the bronze medal against Furkan Memis in 9th June.
54kg: Gamal Yafai v Vittorio Parrinello (Italy) 5-3
A solid first round enabled Gamal to take a 2-1 lead. He extended this by one before conceding a penalty which allowed the Italian to get back on level terms. In an incredibly tense last round, Gamal scored two late points to stretch away for a brilliant win. Gamal is through to the quarters and boxing for bronze. He will face John Joe Nevin of Ireland on 9th June.
57kg Iain Weaver v Bashir Hassan-Salad (Sweden) 8-3
A controlled and decisive performance in the first saw Iain race into a 5-0 lead. The Swede attempted to disrupt Iain's discipline in the second but to no avail as two points more and another in the third, was enough for an 8-3 win. Iain is through to the quarter finals and will box Oualid Belaoura of France for a bronze medal.
60kg: Tom Stalker beat Domenico Valentino (Italy) 4-1
A inspired display saw Tom defeat the Italian with a performance of control and precision. Building a two nil lead and increasing it in the third, his opponent had no idea how to handle the Liverpudlian. Scouse Pride does it again as Stalker takes out the World Champ! Tom will box Artjoms Ramlavs in the quarters for a bronze medal.
91kg: Warren Baister lost to Jozsef Darnos (Hungary) 12-3
In a tough encounter, Warren struggled to get into the contest against the Hungarian.The judges didn't score a number of good shots from Warren and the Hungarian gained a strong and unassailable lead.
Tuesday 8th June
51kg: Khalid Yafai v Derenik Gizhlaryan (Armenia) (Quarter finals)
Wednesday 9th June
48kg: Tommy Stubbs v Patrick Barnes (Ireland) (Quarter finals)
54kg: Gamal Yafai v John Joe Nevin (Ireland) (Quarter finals)
54kg: Andrew Selby v Furkan Memis (Turkey) (Quarter finals)
81kg: Obed Mbwakongo v Abdelkader Bouhenia (France) (Quarter finals)
Information courtesy of the ABAE
