China Open Tournament – Day3
Young Filipino talents shined in the quarter-finals of the China Open Tournament
The China Open Tournament continued with 15 contests in the city of Guiyang where the competition is holding in all of the 13 Olympic weight classes. The China Open Tournament offers perfect preparation for the qualified athletes before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and also for the new talents in the region.
The winners of today’s women contests advanced to the final of the China Open Tournament in Guiyang on Day 3 where besides to the host nation South Korea, Philippines, Kazakhstan and Mongolia also won key bouts. The winners of today’s men bouts advanced to the semi-final stage of the international competition.
China’s Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games winner and AIBA Women’s Youth World Champion Chang Yuan is one of the biggest Asian talent in woman boxing who shines in the China Open Tournament. The 19-year-old Flyweight class (51 kg) eliminated Philippines’ Aira Villegas who is also a young hope in the quarter-final and continued her winning path against Mongolia’s Altantsetseg Lutsaikhan who was in the Top8 in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana. Her final opponent will be South Korea’s Kim Min Jeong who surprisingly eliminated China’s Xu Shiqi in the second semi-final.
In the absence of China’s best Women’s Lightweight class (60 kg) boxer Yin Junhua two of her teammates proved great performance in the semi-final of the category in Guiyang. Ma Jianxia was too strong for Kazakhstan’s Zhanna Baskayeva while Yang Chengyu had a difficult and narrow victory over South Korea’s Choi Jin Sun who competed in the Olympic weight class at the very first time.
Yuan Meiqing was gold medallist at the 2012 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao where she competed at the Light Heavyweight class (81 kg). The 23-year-old Chinese boxer moved down to the Olympic Middleweight class (75 kg) and controlled her semi-final against Mongolia’s young Erdenetuya Enkhbaatar in Guiyang. Following her triumph she will now meet with her teammate Chen Simin in the gold medal bout who eliminated South Korea’s Seong Su Yeon.
Mario Pedres Bautista won the Filipino Youth National Games one year ago and since then he joined to the elite level and moved up to the Bantamweight class (56 kg). The 19-year-old Filipino talent came from a boxing family and proved his amazing footwork against China’s WSB boxer Wang Long who was the favourite of their respective contest. The final verdict was unanimous decision to the Filipino talent while Kazakhstan’s Nurbol Kalzhanov, Mongolia’s Bat-Ochir Tumurkhuyag and South Korea’s experienced Kim Ju Seong also advanced to the semi-final of the category.
Philippines’ James Palicte and Kazakhstan’s Kanat Koptleuov both were gold medallists in the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Subic Bay in different weight classes. The two youngsters met each other at the Lightweight class (60 kg) in Guiyang and the Filipino hope was able to beat his Central Asian rival this time. Mongolia’s Otgonchuluun Batkhuu eliminated China’s Xiao Lanhai in this weight class and also advanced to the last four in the China Open Tournament.
China’s Wang Zhibao has got experiences from the World Series of Boxing and other international events since 2011 therefore his victory over South Korea’s Heo Jin Ho was an expected result. The Korean boxer moved up to the Super Heavyweight class (+91 kg) only a few months ago but he was competitive rival for Wang mainly in the first round. The Chinese boxer will now meet for the gold medal with his teammate Wang Yunlong.