ULAANBAATAR – Host nation Mongolia topped the medals table at the 4th World University Championships, which were held in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia, from October 5th to 10th.
The first edition of the championships was held in Antalya, Turkey six years ago, just after the Athens Olympic Games. The story continued in Almaty, Kazakhstan two years later, while the last edition was held in Kazan, Russia.
Altogether 77 boxers from 15 nations competed at the Championships, they were: Belarus, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine.
Reigning World Champion and Olympic Games silver medallist 25-year-old national hero Purevdorj Serdamba after beating Beijing Olympian Poland’s Lukasz Maszczyk in the semi-final had a hard final contest against Kazakhstan’s National Championships bronze medallist Mardan Berikbayev where the Mongolian boxer won only by 2:1.
Mongolia’s 18-year-old Tugstsogt Nyambayar achieved a silver medal at the AIBA World Championships among elite boxers last year but he missed the qualification to the Youth Olympic Games in Baku. Nyambayar thrashed 19-year-old Khabibulla Ismail-Akhunov of Kazakhstan in the final and claimed the valuable gold medal.
Turkey’s 19-year-old Furkan Memis Ulas was the youngest qualified boxer at the Beijing Olympic Games but was replaced by Mehmet Topcakan in the Turkish team last year. At the Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament he came back with a gold medal in April while he also made the best performance in Ulanbaatar and took the podium against Iderkhuu Enkhjargal of Mongolia.
Makar Mazay Tournament winner Denis Berinchik defeated Kazakhstan’s strong favorite Gani Zhailauov in the lightweight final by 4:0 and claimed Ukraine’s only victory in Ulanbaatar. Berinchik thrashed his opponents in Ulanbaatar and may well be able to qualify for Ukraine’s elite squad next year.
Mongolia’s 23-year-old Asian Championships silver medallist Byamba Tuvshinbat was named best boxer at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Tournament in January and won the gold medal in Ulanbaatar after outpointing Beijing Olympian Onur Sipal of Turkey 5:0 in the 64kg final.
Experienced Onder Sipal from Turkey had a hectic battle against AIBA World Championships quarter-finalist 20-year-old Rustam Svayev of Kazakhstan, saving his lead in the final round to win the contest by a close 5:4 margin.
Newcomer in the international level middleweight Andrey Yefremenko of Russia and his compatriot 19-year-old surprise-man Ruslan Faifer both took gold medals in Ulanbaatar.
Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Ustembayev moved up a weight category after he missed the gold medal at the National Championships at 81kg. The young Kazakh boxer eliminated Evgenijus Tutkus of Lithuania in the semi-final and triumphed over Aleksandr Karakazyan of Russia in the heavyweight final.
Russia’s super heavyweight class boxer Arslanbek Mahmudov who won the Popenchenko Memorial Tournament in July defeated his biggest rival, the experienced Rustam Rygebayev of Kazakhstan, in the semi-final and hammered his local opponent Iderbat Davaalchagva in the final contest to take the gold medal.