Women's World Champions in Action in Keszthely from Tomorrow

Four World Champions will be fighting at the European Union Women's Championships, which start tomorrow in Keszthely, Hungary (3^rd August).

It will be one of the last tournaments, next to the Panamerican Women's Championships, when a female tournament will be held in eleven weight classes because of the new categories that will be launched from September 1, when the lowest weight category, 46kg, will disappear.

Twenty nations will be competing in the event: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and host nation Hungary.

Among the EU member nations only Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are not sending a team to Keszthely, while Norway and Switzerland have strong female boxers but neither of them are EU members.

Unfortunately one of Europe's top women's boxing nations, Sweden, will not be travelling to Hungary, preferring instead to concentrate solely on the 6th edition of the AIBA Women's World Championships which will start on September 9th  in Barbados.

Altogether 119 boxers have entered the competition, making the event the same size as last year's European Championships in Nikolayev, where 113 athletes competed. The three new Olympic weight classes of 51, 60 and 75kg will be really popular in Keszthely among the female boxers as expected.

The local spectators will be treated to performances from the world's top boxers, such as two-time AIBA World Champion Irish star Katie Taylor, who was awarded the title of best women boxer in 2008.

Turkey claimed two first places at the last AIBA World Championships, with Gulsum Tatar taking gold at 64kg and super heavyweight Semsi Yarali also taking the world championship title in Ningbo. Both boxers are again included in the Turkish team.

The best Hungarian boxer, two-time World Champion 29-year-old Maria Kovacs, has moved down into middleweight due the chance to qualify for the London Olympic Games. In the home ring her target is of course the gold medal.

The EU Championships will be an excellent opportunity to prepare for the AIBA Women's World Championships, where a record number of boxers have registered

Article: The AIBA

Logo : The EUBC European Union Confederation