Abudureyimu and Sabyrkhan are the best youth boxers in Astana

China’s Alimire Abudureyimu and Kazakhstan’s Torekhan Sabyrkhan were named as the Best Boxers of the ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Astana. The competition will be finished with its 25 U22 title bouts in Kazakhstan’s capital tomorrow.

China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan earned the youth gold medals in the ninth competition day and among them the host country was the most successful.

Kazakhstan’s three-time Asian Champion Torekhan Sabyrkhan is the top star of their youth national team but he had a very difficult welterweight (67kg) final against Uzbekistan’s Mukhammadazizbek Ismoilov. Sabyrkhan turned up the heat in the beginning of the second round and he delivered a fantastic middle period in this exciting final. Sabyrkhan’s defence was not his best ever today due to Ismoilov’s high competitiveness but his brilliant last round made it clear, he is the first ever four-times Asian Champion among the junior and youth boxers.

China’s Alimire Abudureyimu knew her Kazakh opponent, Mariya Sidorenko and she tried to use her strengths to make the difference in the first round of their light middleweight (70kg) final. The technician Abudureyimu had nice combinations in the first and second rounds from longer range against the aggressive local boxer. Sidorenko was not able to follow the Chinese girl in this contest, her footwork looked too slow for that therefore Abudureyimu celebrated her career highlight today.

Iran’s Amir Esmaeili Vandaei knocked out his semi-final opponent in Astana but he had a more difficult challenge in the final of the super heavyweight (+92kg), Uzbekistan’s Shakhzod Polvonov. The taller Iranian landed the stronger shots in the first round and he had the motivation, furthermore the power to keep the control of the final. The Sri Lankan referee counted the Uzbek boxer after Esmaeili’s heavy punch in the second round and he became his nation’s first Asian Youth Champion since 2017.