European silver and bronze, two silvers and a bronze at the Mediterranean Games, a youth medal at the biggest competition of the Old Continent... All of this contributed to the fact that boxing deserved two prestigious awards for the best young athletes in Montenegro.
The selector of the boxing national team, Nikola Ružić, at the end of 2022, reaped the fruits of years of relentless work.
- Unreal! Indeed, the year was fantastic and all honor to everyone, but boxing was the flagship of Montenegrin sports this year. Arguments are results, although many are not used to it due to decades of idleness and will be reluctant to say so. But we have no problem reminding them. In addition, eight awards in a row for the best young athletes have gone to boxing - the head of the Montenegrin national team and Budva club told "Vijesti".
Two of Ružić's competitors brought Montenegro its first senior medals since independence, the first in the history of women's boxing. Bojana Gojković won silver and Tamara Radunović won bronze.
- We started the competition with a lot of problems, Bojana missed 16 days of final preparations due to an injury, and Tamara returned after exactly two and a half years and two childbirths, and all the injustices caused by the previous management's omissions and negligence, lack of promptness and unprofessionalism of the courts came back to her. instances. To be honest, the draw was in her favor, for her rival she got the boxer she had won before and she had that in her head in the most important match. At the age of 19, Bojana proved that she is among the best, but three headers in the final, the first after 15 seconds, renewed her injury. The same is true of the Irish woman whom she won in the fight for victory in Sarajevo, but a few days later she injured herself with a headbutt during sparring. I consider that my only omission, because I should not have accepted the request of the Irish team in a sparring session on a date close to the start of the European Championship. In the final, I stopped the match due to an injury, even though Bojana objected. I know it is better and will get it next time - said Ružić.
In addition to the European Games, Bojana won silver at the Mediterranean Games in Algeria, Stefan Savković also won silver, while Petar Marčić won bronze.
- In the final, Bojana was better in the first round than the world champion from Turkey, who entered the match nervously. Nevertheless, the judges awarded the first round to the Turkish woman, and then Bojana got nervous. Either way, it was a great check against the champion. I didn't let Savković box for gold because of his injury - explained Ružić.
Mirko Šarčević from Bielsko-Biała, who continued his streak after the junior vice-championship title in Europe, contributed to a bright future with a European youth medal.
- He is calm and composed in the biggest bursts of his rivals, he is a unique talent and now we are considering the options of his training program, even outside. It is the new pearl of our sport - Ružić is unequivocal
You have the program "Travel to Paris", how satisfied are you with its progress?
- We are preparing for the most important and our pick of the next season is the 3rd European Games in Poland, it is the first qualifying competition for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, and medals are the norm. Of course, Bojana has also performed at the world championships, and they will choose several boxers depending on their form for the WC in Uzbekistan. The motive will be the biggest, because gold in both the senior and senior women's categories brings a $200.000 prize. These are record numbers, silver 100.000 and bronze 50.000 each - concluded Ružić.
The first World Cup will be in Budva
In addition to results, in the two years of Aleksandar Klemenko's mandate, BSCG established itself as the best partner of the IBA (International Boxing Association): the organization of two European youth championships, then the European senior championship for women, and the end is not in sight.
- Budva will host a pilot project in March - the 1st World Cup, but it will be organized in Budva every year and will not lose its name - the Pearl of the Adriatic! All the biggest national teams have announced their participation, and until now the Adriatic Pearl was the tournament of the highest IBA category. The number of clubs has also doubled and all are producing results, and we must pay special attention to Žabljak, where the conditions are ideal. In addition, Klemenko provided top trainers, Russian Sergey Kudravtsev and Ukrainian Vitaly Yarovy, who is an expert in working with young people. And Đorđije Perović received the second referee's star, we have four more referees with one, and the Association is on an excellent path of progress - pointed out Ružić.
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