Ammar Haidar defended his throne in the Syrian Youth National Championships in Latakia

The Syrian Youth National Championships was held in the city of Latakia where 82 boxers from 12 teams competed for the medals and prizes. All of the Syrian regions attended in the Youth National Championships in spite of the situation in the Middle Eastern country. The best performance was delivered by Ammar Haidar in the Youth National Championships who is a top athlete at the light welterweight (64kg).
The Syrian Boxing Federation is planning to send boxers to the all ASBC events in 2017 therefore the competition was also a selection event. Their current plan is to send four athletes to the upcoming ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships which will be taking place in Bangkok in July 1-7.
The first gold medal of the competition was achieved by Damascus’ 17-year-old Ali Kallol who eliminated Aleppo’s experienced Junior National Champion Krikor Tangrian in the semi-final and controlled also his final fight against Army’s young Mohamed Saed at the light flyweight (49kg).
Tarek Mardini won the title in the 2015 Syrian Junior National Championships and also in the 2016 Syrian Youth National Championships therefore he was the main favourite of the flyweight (52kg) in the event. The Damascus-based boxer dominated his final against Aleppo’s defending Junior National Champion Basher Shith and secured his third-in-a-row national title in Syria.
Faris Deeb is a super talented Syrian boxer who surprisingly claimed only silver medal in the 2016 Junior National Championships but he was able to do better this time Latakia’s pride defeated Hama’s Taher Ajam in the final of the bantamweight (56kg). Latakia’s next gold medal was achieved by Abdalrahman Idilbe who was too strong for Damascus’ Mohamed Faez Safeeh in the final of the lightweight (60kg) while Hama’s Junior National Champion Adeb Habra achieved only bronze in the event.
Ammar Haidar attended at the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Pavlodar one year ago and since then his skills developed significantly. Latakia’s top boxer dominated his gold medal bout against Hama’s Abdallah Maghmomh who moved up two weight classes in the recent one year. The 18-year-old Haidar has got realistic chance to get a medal at the light welterweight (64kg) in the upcoming ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Bangkok.
Latakia’s Junior National Champion Osama Alajeh achieved silver medal in the last edition at the lightweight (60kg) but since that competition he moved up two categories. The 18-year-old boxer eliminated Daraa’s Mohamed Al-Krad in the semi-final had to meet with his teammate Latakia’s Junior National Champion younger talent Jafer Asad in the final of the welterweight (69kg) but he was quicker and smarter than his younger opponent.
Aleppo’s Abdulrahman Shouman won the gold medal in the 2016 Syrian Junior National Championships and moved up to the youth age group this January. Shouman, who was born in 2000, felt the tempo of his middleweight (75kg) final against Daraa’s Amar Al-Mohamed and celebrated his next title after the last gong.
Two-time Junior National Champion Abdelhamid Al-Youssef of Tartous and Army’s titleholder Zualfakar Mansour has done amazing final at the light heavyweight (81kg) which was won by the younger Al-Youssef. The heavyweight (91kg) gold medal was captures by Damascus’ Ahmad Malak Al-Homsi who defeated Army’s Bashar Ballol in the final.
Hama’s Ahmad Serieh competed at the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan one year ago and proved top performance once again. The 18-year-old super heavyweight (+91kg) boxer arrived to Latakia as titleholder of the event and he was able to defend that throne after beating Hasakeh’s newcomer Asel Khazrek in the final.

Winners in the Syrian Youth National Championships
49kg: Ali Kallol, 1999
52kg: Tarek Mardini, 1999
56kg: Faris Deeb, 2000
60kg: Abdalrahman Idilbe, 2000
64kg: Ammar Haidar, 1999
69kg: Osama Alajeh, 1999
75kg: Abdulrahman Shouman, 2000
81kg: Abdelhamid Al-Youssef, 2000
91kg: Ahmad Malak Al-Homsi, 1999
+91kg: Ahmad Serieh, 1999