Strandja Memorial Tournament finished in Bulgaria

February 27th, 2022 / IBA

All of the 25 finals finished at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria after the last competition day. Teams from Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, India, Ireland Kazakhstan and the Russian boxing federation team were the most successful at the new edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament.

A record number of 368 female and male boxers competed at the 73rd edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament where only the best of the best were able to win gold medals. The new edition of the Strandja was part of the new IBA World Boxing Tour launched by the International Boxing Association.

The Strandja Memorial is Europe’s oldest international boxing tournament, which launched back in 1950. Since the first edition, dozens of stars and big champions competed at the event and the new 73rd Strandja was the same strong as in recent years. IBA arranged the money prizes and boxers earned new world ranking points.

Denmark and Algeria celebrated historical gold medals of the Bulgarian event while Ukraine also added a title to their collections. Bulgarian Svetlana Kamenova worked as a coach the previous years and after nearly one decade of absence, she decided to return as a boxer and dominated the women’s featherweight (57kg).

“This is an emotional return for me, after so many years of absence. I had to do everything possible to win and show that my place is again at the Strandja Memorial Tournament and in other international competitions. I am definitely more relaxed in the ring after these years when I was an assistant coach in the national team for youth. I am much calmer, more erudite, and it helps me a lot,” said Svetlana Kamenova.

The strong Indian female boxers shined at the Women’s World Boxing Championships, especially in the youth age groups and their talents are growing every year. Nitu Ghanghas, who earned gold at the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships, achieved the first title of the 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament.

The Bulgarian boxers achieved one title in the first part of the finals on Saturday and their boxers earned two further gold medals in the afternoon session on Sunday. Bulgarian Radoslav Rosenov bagged altogether four gold medals in the EUBC European Boxing Championships as junior and youth boxer, furthermore he took bronze in Kielce. The 18-year-old Rozenov has a debut among the elite boxers. He knocked down his final opponent Murat Yildirim from Germany and earned gold in a lightweight category (60kg).

The list of the winners of the Strandja Memorial Tournament

WOMEN

48kg: Nitu Ghanghas, India

50kg: Nazym Kyzaibay, Kazakhstan

52kg: Nikhat Zareen, India

54kg: Stanimira Petrova, Bulgaria

57kg: Svetlana Kamenova, Bulgaria

60kg: Kellie Harrington, Ireland

63kg: Imane Khelif, Algeria

66kg: Saadat Dalgatova, Russia

70kg: Valentina Khalzova, Kazakhstan

75kg: Aoife O’Rourke, Ireland