After qualifying five boxers for the finals yesterday, Russia went on to secure four gold medals at the AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships finals in Astana, Kazakhstan today.
The country's first boxer in the finals, Vladislav Krasnosheyn, was the only one who had to content himself with a silver after losing to Tajikistan's Asror Vohidov in the light flyweight contest. Vohidov made light work of his opponent, the Russian junior national champion, with an impressive 20:9 scoreline.
Russia's squad came to the boil starting with the lightweight division, however, when Shamil Malsagov edged ahead to a close 15:14 victory against Uzbekistan's Israil Madrinov. His team-mate Tamerlan Magomedov then booked a more emphatic victory with a 17:4 victory against England's Isaac McLeod in the light welterweight division.
In the welterweight division Alexandr Agafonov once again sealed his victory early, landing a body blow on Turkey's Osman Aydin at the end of the first round that had the Turkish boxer kneeling on the canvas and clutching his kidneys. Aydin could not recover after the standing count and the bout was adjudicated a knock-out in favour of the Russian.
The Russian squad closed out with four out of a possible five gold medals when when Lendrush Akopyan took the narrowest of victories against Azerbaijan's Orkhan Mayilli. Akopyan responded after his Azeri adversary took an early lead and the scores finished 6:5 in the Russian's favour.
After five years of boxing and with over 50 bouts under his belt, Australia's Clay Waterman today ended his excellent run at the 2011 World Junior Boxing Championships with his first gold medal at international level in the pinweight division. A single point decided the contest as the Australian opened up a lead against Iraq's Karrar Kadhim Al-Sahm in the second round. Al-Sahm fought back in the final round, which he drew 7:7, but it was not enough to claim the gold, making Iraq's historic first boxing medal in any AIBA competition a silver.
England's Pat McCormack from the Birtley Amateur Boxing Club took control of all three rounds in the flyweight final, taking a lead over India's Naveen Kumar in each one. McCormack's 8:4 victory added the world title to his collection after he bagged the European junior title in Keszthely earlier this year.
The Philippines' Eumir Felix Marcial ended his excellent run with the first gold for Asia in the light bantamweight final, beating Turkey's Cengiz Onat by a close 9:7.
Unfazed by the home crowd's support for his opponent, Hungary's Norbert Herczeg wasn't prepared to concede a point to Begzhan Kibitkalyev. Down by two points to the Kazakh boxer at the end of the first two rounds, he clawed back the difference in the closing three minutes to end the fight 10:10. Sadly, the accepted scores were against him, handing the host nation their first gold medal of the afternoon.
Aliyor Noraliev beat Korea's In-Pyo Hong by a close 9:7 in the featherweight final.
The Ukraine's Vladyslav Myhaylov secured a gold medal for his country with a clear 14:9 victory over Turkey's Omar Dincer in the middleweight division.
In the light heavyweight final Australia's Jai Opetaia concluded his unbeaten run in the tournament with a closely fought 5:3 victory against Germany's Melvin Perry.
The home crowd built up their excitement to a fitting finale as home boxer Didar Tolegen took on Uzbekistan's Oybek Sharipov in the heavyweight decider. Despite the fervent support, Sharipov took control of the bout from the outset and despite a cut to his lip won 14:10 to close out the competition with a second gold medal for Uzbekistan.
Out of a total of 15 countries which qualified boxers for the finals, eight different countries secured gold medals today, with Russia topping the table with four golds, followed by Australia and Uzbekistan with two each. Russia also topped the overall ranking, with Uzbekistan second and host nation Kazakhstan in third place.