Eight Poles in the World Cup finals. They whetted the appetites of fans
Szeremeta expected to face Turkish Esra Yildiz in the final. Meanwhile, the Olympic bronze medalist unexpectedly lost 2:3 to Khumorabonu Mamajonova from Uzbekistan.
After that, Paweł Brach fought from the white and red representatives. He was called a top-five boxer by journalists, because he was the fifth from the Polish team to advance to the finals. The 60 kg fighter defeated the Lithuanian Edgaras Skurdelis unanimously in good style.
“My coaches and I knew the opponent and adjusted our tactics so that I could quickly gain an advantage. That involved fast footwork and staying focused until the end,” Brach explained.
His final opponent will be Michele Baldasi. Brach has already lost to the Italian twice by unanimous decision, when the latter was the European U-22 champion. There may not be a better opportunity for revenge any time soon.
— The last defeat was quite controversial, because I lost 2:3, and my opponent, and me of course, got carried away by emotions. The whole time, my opponent was sticking somewhere, and I was throwing him around and wiping the ring mat with him. He was lying on the boards once, or even three times, but it was because of my not-so-clean serves. Maybe that's why I lost — he admitted.
Brach hoped that his good friend Cezary Znamiec would advance to the decisive fight in the 70 kg category, after he fought an extremely fierce duel, full of manly, hard exchange of blows, with the Uzbek Gofurjon Tochirow. After two rounds, all judges scored a perfect draw of 19:19. The Pole's excellent condition allowed him to win 5:0 in the end.
"- Well, the first round was a warm-up," Znamiec admitted with a smile. Later, the Pole, in accordance with the training staff's instructions, was not to try anything. "It's close, so I'll just go for it wherever I can. And I guess it worked out. The second and third rounds were unanimous for me," he summed up.
Znamiec finally thanked Brach for always believing in him. "We've been together in the squad for two years now. He's a role model for me, because Paweł is older. He's already at this intergalactic level," he assessed his friend.
In the same weight class, Damian Durkacz lost 1:3 to the Swede Kevin Scott, who will meet Znamiec.
Rami Kiwan is associated with Durkacz's name. The Bulgarian eliminated the Pole in the first round of the Paris Games. On Friday, he won 5:0 with Mateusz Urban (75 kg) without any problems.
In the 90 kg category, the Polish-Polish final will take place. Adam Tutak defeated the German Tyron Amo 4:1. In turn, Alexey Sevostyanov from Kazakhstan defeated the Welshman Connor Williams 5:0. The two Polish representatives have not yet fought each other in an official duel. Both assure that they intend to qualify for the Los Angeles Games. They are eleven years apart.
— We only had a few sparring sessions. It's not enough to judge who is better, so I hope it will be clear on Friday. We will fight as if we didn't know each other, but there is no bad blood between us — concluded Tutak.
The finals will also feature three other Poles who secured this right in previous days. They are Weronika Dziubek in the 65 kg category, Jakub Straszewski (85 kg) and Agata Kaczmarska (+80 kg). The heaviest of the Polish women made it to the finals without eliminations. Similarly to the Turkish woman Seyma Duztas. Only two competitors were registered for this weight class.
Source of information: Polish Press Agency
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