The EUBC's upcoming European Youth Championships will be starting with the general weigh-in, the official draw and the preliminaries in the City West Hotel Convention Centre of Dublin (Ireland) on 22 August. The finals of this huge youth event are scheduled for Saturday 27 August.
Only boxers born in 1993 and 1994 are eligible. For these young boxers, the 2011 European Youth Championships is the first step on their way to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Altogether, 213 boxers from 38 nations will enter the championships. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales will be represented.
"With a record 38 countries participating, this Championships clearly demonstrates the bright future of our sport and proves that boxing is continually attracting more and more youth. The boxers we will enjoy watching in Dublin will surely be the top elite boxers of tomorrow leading to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games", declared Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, AIBA President.
Alongside with host Irish team, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Germany, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine will present a full 10-member team while Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania have sent eight boxers to Dublin.
The host nation's team have been training and sparring with Germany and the Netherlands at the National Stadium in Dublin. Irish Elite National Championships silver medalist Evan Metcalfe, National Elite Champion Michael McDonagh, tough Kieran Forde, St. Michael Athy's Christy Joyce will represent Ireland. Defending European Men's Elite Champion and AIBA Youth World Champion, Joe Ward, will take part in the AIBA World Championships in Baku next month.
Russia, Europe's top boxing nation, will present its top team including AIBA Youth World Championships bronze medalist Vasiliy Vetkin, talented National Champion Radzhab Butayev, flag bearer Kristian Stepanov, European Junior Champion Igor Kharitonov, Amber Gloves Tournament winner Ivan Veryasov and AIBA Junior World Champion Gasan Gimbatov in the super heavyweight class.
Lithuania's Youth Olympic Games winner, 18-year-old Ricardas Kuncaitis, is the light welterweight class' top favourite in Dublin. His best compatriots, Edgaras Skurdelis and European Junior Championships bronze medalist, Eimantas Stanionis, will also fight for a medal in the Irish capital city.
AIBA Junior World Champion, German best youth fighter 18-year-old Theo Krechlok, has great expectations in the bantamweight class. Brandenburg Youth Tournament winner, Philip Nsingi, and European Junior Championships bronze medalist, Roman Fress, are also part of a strong squad.
AIBA Youth World Championships bronze medalist heavyweight, Fabio Turchi, will lead the Italian squad. But 17-year-old Danas Pozniakas Youth Memorial Tournament winner, middleweight Giuseppe Ranno, is also a great prospect for the South European country while super heavyweight Guido Vianello got injured just before the event.
Brandenburg Youth Tournament winner and National Elite Champion, Polish Dawid Jagodzinski, is the light flyweight's top favourite. His talented teammate, Patryk Szymanski, will miss the event due to his preparation for the upcoming AIBA Men's Elite World Championships.
After a few poor years, Bulgaria has now an excellent youth team including rising stars AIBA Youth World Championships bronze medalist, Denislav Suslekov, and Strandja Memorial Tournament winner, Nikolay Koev.
The Ukrainian contingent is traditionally strong and each of the Caucasian nations have a gold medal contenders such as Armenia's AIBA Junior World Champion Koryun Soghomonyan, Azerbaijan's European Junior Championships silver medalist Rauf Rakhimov and Georgia's AIBA Junior World Championships silver medalist Aleko Chadashvili in the lightweight class.
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