Daniyar Yeleussinov defended his throne at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games and Kazakhstan topped the team rankings

The 2014 edition of the boxing tournament of the Asian Games was held in Incheon, South Korea from September 23 until October 3. Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yeleussinov was the only boxer in the Asian Games who could defend his throne in Incheon where his country claimed six gold medals.
This event was the last edition of the Asian Games and the next will be coming soon in Indonesia this August. The Incheon 2014 Asian Games was the second competition for the women boxers after their debut in 2010. The event was the seventeenth edition of the Asian Games and the sixteenth boxing tournament in the history of the multisport event.
Some of the stars of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games are in the position to defend their thrones in the upcoming Jakarta event such as South Korea’s Shin Jong Hun, Thailand’s Wuttichai Masuk, India’s Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte and China’s Yin Junhua. The Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games was the first when the ex-Soviet Central Asian boxing powers could attend at the very first time. Their boxers have done superb performance also in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games.
Uzbekistan dominated the 2002 and 2006 editions of the Games before China was able to win the team rankings of the Guangzhou event in 2010 but in 2014 Kazakhstan topped the medal standings. A previous boxing super power South Korea topped the medal rankings in 1962, in 1966, in 1970, in 1974, in 1978, in 1982, in 1986 and in 1990 but their position was lost in 1994 and never regained it.
The first boxing tournament was held in 7 men weight classes in Manila in 1954 but from the second edition boxers could attend in 10 different categories. The Olympic Council of Asia raised the number of the weight classes up to 11 in the 1966 edition and also added a new category raising to 12 the divisions in 1982. Men boxers could attend in 10 weight classes from the 49kg up to the +91kg in Incheon while the women athletes competed in three categories: 51kg, 60kg and 75kg.
Record number of seven countries claimed gold medals in 1990 and it was repeated by the strong Asian boxing powers in 1994, in 2010 and also in 2014. Kazakhstan won six gold medals in Incheon, South Korea achieved two as host of the 2014 edition while the remaining titles were taken by China, India, Mongolia, Thailand and DPR Korea.
Record number of 16 Asian countries claimed at least one bronze medal in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games. Next to the gold medallist nations Uzbekistan, Iran, Philippines, Jordan, Japan, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan were also on the medal rankings.
Altogether 216 elite boxers from 34 nations attended in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games which broke the previous record. The participating countries at the Incheon 2014 Asian Games were the followings: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, DPR Korea, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
India’s five-time AIBA Women’s World Champion Chungneijang Mary Kom Hmangte moved up to the flyweight (51kg) and realized her golden dreams in Incheon after beating Kazakhstan’s Zhaina Shekerbekova. The further gold medals in the women part of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games were taken by China’s Yin Junhua (60kg) and DPR Korea’s Jang Un Hui (75kg).
South Korea’s AIBA World Boxing Championships silver medallist Shin Jong Hun had difficulties in the final of the men’s light flyweight (49kg) against Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov but finally his hand was raised after the last gong. His teammate Ham Sang Myeong exceeded all of the previous expectations with his gold medal after beating Kazakhstan’s Kayrat Yeraliyev and China’s Zhang Jiawei.
Mongolia claimed its first ever gold medal in the history of the boxing tournaments of the Asian Games and that big step was achieved by Dorjnyambuu Otgondalai at the lightweight (60kg). Thailand’s Wuttichai Masuk took bronze medal in the 2010 edition and he changed that podium place to gold in Incheon where he defeated South Korea’s Lim Hyun Chul in the final of the light welterweight (64kg).
Kazakhstan dominated the men part of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games, their boxers won 6 out of the 10 possible gold medals in South Korea. AIBA World Champion Daniyar Yeleussinov defended his throne with top performance in the final of the welterweight (69kg) against Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov. Another AIBA World Champion from Kazakhstan, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly dominated all of his contests at the middleweight (75kg). Ilyas Suleimenov (52kg), Olympic Games runner-up Adilbek Niyazymbetov (81kg), Anton Pinchuk (91kg) and Ivan Dychko (+91kg) were their further gold medallists in Incheon.

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