Belgrade: Two boxing stars Lasha Guruli and Eskerkhan Madiev of Georgia won the silver medal in their respective categories during the European Amateur Boxing Championship 2024. The 46th men’s and 14th edition of the championship was held in Belgrade, Serbia from 18 to 28 April.
Although there were ten members of the Georgian boxing contingent in Belgrade, however only two managed to reach the final and clinched the silver medal respectively as well.
Lasha Guruli led the 67 kg weight category he is the winner of two bronze medals at the World Championships and a silver medal at the European Championship and the European Games. He made the entry into the final from the quarter-finals. He won against Nabi Isgandarov from Azerbaijan. In the semi-finals, he defeated Vahid Abbasov in an interesting match to record the victory.
It is to be specifically mentioned that Lasha Guruli gave a tough fight to the boxer of Russia, Tarkhan Idigov to claim the gold and even dominated the match but due to biased refereeing during the first two rounds he refused to continue the match.
Eskerkhan Madiev competed in the 71 Kg category against the Serbian boxer Jovan Nikolic however did not succeed and climbed to the second step to win the silver. It should be noted that this silver medal is the best result for Madiyev so far.
In the past, the Georgian boxing team achieved its best result at the European Championship held in 2022 in Yerevan, where it had won 3 gold and 1 silver medals. Meanwhile the Georgians are cheering the victory of their two winner boxers at this important boxing platform.
The social media is also flooded with congratulatory messages for these two sports gem of a country. The Facebook page “The World of Boxing” appreciated their achievement and posted a video of the prize distribution ceremony.
Notably, netizens have also expressed their anger against the biased refreezing. One user Giorgi Kandelaki commented “For me and all Georgians Lasha is the champion of Europe, you can’t imagine how hard he fought every fight and the final, yes something miraculously But a sold-out fight in the period of being in so many curves, I have never seen such a biased fight and such sold out referees Lasha, thank you for showing such high class.”
