Busy sessions and great show at the 3rd Belt & Road Youth Boxing Festival in China
China’s 3rd Belt & Road International Youth Boxing Gala has busy sessions in the city of Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The Belt & Road International Boxing Festival includes international training camp, competition for elite, U19 and U17 boxers and other kind of activities.
The main objective of the new edition of the international training camp and competition is to support the preparation of the boxers for the Asian Youth Games which will be held in Bahrain and also for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
The Chinese Boxing Federation and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Municipal Government are the organizers of the Festival.
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen all decided to send strong teams in Urumqi.
Boxing is one of the most popular sports in the Xinjiang region of China, their Tuohetaerbieke Tanglatihan earned a gold medal in the last edition of the Asian Games and a silver in the 2023 World Boxing Championships in Tashkent.
Pakistan’s new female youth sensation, Ayesha Mumtaz caused a surprise in the semi-finals of the minimumweight (48kg) when she triumphed over China’s Zhang Kongyuhan. Pakistan’s No.1 will be boxing for the gold medal with China’s Chongqing-based Zeng Weimei who reached the quarter-finals at the 2024 Youth World Boxing Championships.
Henan’s National Champion and promising star in women’s boxing, Ruan Mulan defeated Sichuan’s Yu Yongfang in the semi-finals of the women’s elite featherweight (57kg). The 25-year-old boxer will now face for the gold medal with Guangdong’s Li Zijun who had a successful tactical job against Kazakhstan’s Zere Markhabay.
Kazakhstan’s ASBC Asian Champion Rimma Volosenko is a veteran boxer but she is still active to regain her place in the top team. The 33-year-old boxer eliminated China’s Qiao Lexi in the semi-finals of the women’s lightweight (60kg) and she will now meet Yang Wenlu, a local World Champion.
China’s Henan-based Li Shu eliminated Kazakhstan’s former ASBC Asian Champion Madina Nurshayeva in the semi-finals of the women’s welterweight (66kg). The young talent will face her teammate Ni Boya for the gold medal of the Belt & Road Tournament.
Kazakhstan’s former World Champion Valentina Khalzova returned to the international events after a short break and she was too strong for Sri Lanka’s Kalu Arachchilage Gayani Nisansala Kaluarachchi in the semi-finals of the women’s middleweight (75kg). Khalzova’s next opponent for the title will be China’s Wang Xiaomeng, the bronze medallist from the 2025 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.
Don’t forget you can keep up with all of the action, news, results and photos by following ASBC on Facebook and Instagram.
ASBC website: www.asbcnews.org
ASBC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ASBC.Official/
ASBC Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/asbc_official/
ASBC Twitter page: https://twitter.com/ASBC_official