Serbia's Marija Pavlov


After having reviewed the elite competition at the women's Nations Cup in Zrenjanin, we will now recap the events in the youth and junior competition. With the 2nd edition of the AIBA Women's Youth and Junior World Championships scheduled for later this year, this tournament was seen as ideal preparation for the fledgling young athletes who will see glory on the international stage.


The host nation's top youth boxer and biggest hope for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 18-year-old European Junior Champion Marija Pavlov, who has already claimed a several high profile trophies at international level, was a class above the competition in the youth Lightweight (60kg) draw. The Serbian boxer was sublime in triumphing over Kazakhstan's Ulbala Almenova 22:2 in the final, which resulted in her being awarded the best boxer trophy.

Milena Matovic, a recent AIBA Women's Junior World Championships bronze medallist, continued the host nation's winning ways after controlling her bout against Kazakhstan's 17-year-old Khayrutdinov Tournament silver medallist Valentina Khalzova to record a stunning victory at Light Heavyweight (81kg).


In the Olympic youth Flyweight (51kg) class, England's 16-year-old European Junior Champion Crystal Barker defeated all before, with a stunning victory over India's Junior National Champion Lalruatfeli paving the way for a final showdown with Kazakhstan's Sevara Tadzhikulova, whom she overpowered 7:2 to claim the gold medal in style.


At Middleweight (75kg), Russian Junior National Champion Anastasiya Shamsutdinova and Kazakhstan's strong Anastasiya Rylina put on a world class battle for the fans in Zrenjanin. Shamsutdinova began well but Rylina come back strong to level the scores after four rounds. In the end, Shamsutdinova had done enough to take victory on count-back with the scores tied at 15:15.

Kazakhstan's top youth Light Flyweight (46-49kg), Alua Balkybekova, stopped India's AIBA Junior World Champion Lalenkawli in the semis before defeating Russia's Kseniya Naumenko in the final. The 17-year-old Central Asian hope proved that she is a gold medal contender in the forthcoming AIBA Women's Youth World Championships.

AIBA Women's Junior World Championships bronze medallist Alicia Holsken from the Netherlands only lost one contest in 2012, winning four international tournaments as a junior boxer during that time. After that she moved up to youth level and added the Nations Cup gold to her trophy collection after beating India's AIBA Junior World Champion Nikhat Zareen 10:4 in the final.


In the junior competition, Slovenia's Ema Kozin alerted everyone to her enormous potential after overcoming the odds and triumphing over India's rising star Lovlina Borgohain 6:5 at 70kg. India's new Light Flyweight sensation, 15-year-old Asha Roka, had previously outpointed and shocked her rival from Kazakhstan to claim the title.


National Junior Champion Assyl Askarova from Kazakhstan and Russia's Yelizaveta Nemtsova were also big winners in Zrenjanin and will be two to keep an eye out for at AIBA Women's Junior/Youth World Championships later this year. These talented female boxers who were born in 1996 and 1997 will also be able to compete also in the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, should they qualify. There are big times ahead for these boxers.