Young Tamara Garcia is the first Spanish female boxer to claim a gold medal in a large-scale international tournament in France where a local association hosted the Côte d'Opale Tournament in Grand-Synthe from the 14th to 16th of June.
At the tournament competed thirty-three strong female boxers from six nations as France, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine and Greece. It was a good occasion to prepare to the 6th AIBA Women's World Championships which will be held in Barbados in September.
The middleweight gold medal unexpectedly went to Spain due to Tamara Garcia's strong performance. She defeated French National Champion and experienced Erika Guerrier in the semifinal 8:2 in an easy bout for Garcia.
In the final contest she had to face former two-time World Champion Hungarian Maria Kovacs who went down from 81kg to 75kg due to the London Olympic Games' categorization. Despite Garcia's opponent being very strong herself, the Spanish boxer finally won the hectic bout 8:6 and claimed the first great success of her career.
European Championships bronze medalist 28-year-old Sarah Ourahmoune who has been competing for France in the 48kg weight category for many years used her experience to claim the first gold medal of the tournament for France.
Another French boxer Virginie Nave defeated EUBC Confederation Junior Championships silver medalist 18-year-old Vivien Mizsei of Hungary in the flyweight final and won the local squad's second gold medal at the tournament.
Anna Rogovich of Ukraine, Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament bronze medalist, won a gold medal in the Côte d'Opale Tournament after beating Lorna Weaver of France in the bantamweight final.
Relatively unknown newcomer Hayatte Akodad of France claimed the gold medal in the featherweight class, after winning over experienced Athina Malefaki of Greece.
Lightweight boxer Cindy Orain, new French National Champion Severine Guilpin and EUBC Confederation Championships bronze medalist Gihade Lagmiri also claimed the gold medal in their respective weight classes, ensuring the their team dominated the tournament.
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