Team Scotland Finish top of the Medal Table!
Contest reports from the Hajika Finals:
56kg: Joe Ham SCOTLAND v David Cufaj BOSNIA & HERZEGOVIA
With the stoppage win under his belt from the semi-finals, Joe went into the final confident of causing an upset in front of his opponent’s home crowd. The Scotsman immediately took control of the contest, building up his attacks from mid-range then unleashing 2 & 3 phase attacks at close range. Constantly creating angles by pivoting around the front foot, the Scotsman had the measure of the Bosnian in every department. After forcing a standing count at the start of the second round, Joe immediately jumped on his opponent on the count of 8, and after another barrage of bent arm shots to head and body the referee stopped the contest in favour of Joe – another great show of ring craft and strength from Joe to secure Scotland’s first Gold in the competition.
60kg: Ismet Zeric BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA v Charlie Flynn SCOTLAND
Charlie Flynn was up next to face another local boxer, and once again dominated proceedings from the opening bell. With his opponent corner clearing witnessing Charlie’s solid performance in the semi-final, the Bosnian boxer looked to spoil and break Charlie’s rhythm from the outset. As the round matured however, Charlie matched the spoiling tactics with blistering attacks with both hands, forcing Zeric off balance with a powerful jab then following up with accurate bent arm punching from mid-range. Charlie showed great composure so as to not be disrupted by the holding on and smothering being adopted by the local boxer, using sound pattern of movement as the round matured to control the range and allow space to administer the leverage in his punches. There was no doubting the winner at the end of the contest, with Charlie securing a well-deserved gold in the heated battle. (The contest was awarded best dual of the final at the closing ceremony).
64kg: Tadej Mernik SLOVAKIA v Lewis Benson SCOTLAND
Team Scotland were now clearly the team to beat in the competition, and it became very apparent the opposition were being instructed to unsettle the Scottish boxers at every opportunity. Lewis started his final by stamping his authority at long range, halting his Slovakian opponent’s attempts to close the gap with a piercing lead hand to the head. For the majority of the first round, single accurate punches were proving effective enough for Lewis to keep the momentum, however as the contest matured the opposition looked at nullifying the Scottish attacks once again using the ‘smack and smother’ tactic, wanting to get into a clinch when they had thrown their first attack. However, showing great adaptability, Lewis kept his grip on the bout by circling around his opponent to the blind side then pouncing with stinging straight punches. Once again the pattern of movement and ring craft proved too tricky for the opposition, with Lewis collecting Team Scotland’s third Gold medal with a well-rounded performance during a tricky contest.
75kg: Nabah Ahmad QATAR v Kieran Smith SCOTLAND
Having dispatched of his experienced opponent in the semi-final, Kieran faced the short powerhouse Ahmad in his 75kg final. The Scotsman immediately stamped his authority on the bout, drifting in and out of range to make his opponent miss then counter with his trademark whipping punches. After assessing the slick movement and accuracy of the Scotsman, once again the opposition looked to disrupt and aggravate the momentum gained by Kieran. However, the Scottish boxer adjusted accordingly, controlling the contest with sound lateral movement in order to create space for effective punching at long range. Dominating the centre of the ring, mixed with setting traps to draw his opponent in and counter with the rear-hand, Kieran out foxed the aggressive Ahmad whilst landing stinging long uppercuts to the mid-rift of his opponent. Measuring with the jab, then whipping the rear hand to head and torso, Kieran finished the contest in control and kept a cool head against his rough and ready opponent – well done Kieran, notching up a fourth Gold for Scotland.
81kg: Plantic Damir CROATIA v Scott Forrest SCOTLAND
Last up for Team Scotland in the finals was Scott, who was arguably facing one of the most stylist boxers in the tournament. The Croatian showed his slick movement from the opening bell, making it extremely difficult for Scott to find his range during the majority of the first round. Going into the second round, Scott knew he had to apply sustained attacks and cut the ring off to contain the wily Damir, and immediately found success by launching attacks as his opponent backed up to the ropes. Scott showed his dogged determination stalking his opponent around the ring, pouncing on the Croatian as soon as he stopped to set his countering position. Tirelessly pursuing his opponent from corner to corner, Scott tried to continuously keep his front foot in range so as to deliver punchers at every opportunity. Unfortunately however, the Croatian kept the effectiveness of his slick counterpunching despite the onslaughts he received, and was just that bit slicker on the day, which was proved by the result being given to the Croatian on the completion of the contest – nevertheless, a good effort by Scott.
With a grand total of 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze, the Hakija tournament has proved to be a great success for Team Scotland, finishing top of the medal table in the multi-nation tournament.
Team Scotland now moves onto a training camp in Serbia, in preparation for the upcoming Senior European championships to be held in Belarus at the end of the month.
