Today saw 36 bouts across two rings in male and female divisions, with a defending champions including Patricia Axling and Vasyl Sorokin advancing again. (video below)
A number of the larger teams did well today, with athletes advancing for Russia, Belarus, France, and Sweden. But smaller teams like Portugal and Cyrus also scored wins, proving it’s all about the athletes’ heart when you are between the ropes.
In the men’s divisions Armenia’s Gor Nazaryan took a win in the 5th bout against Antonio Faria, Portugal. Baris Guzel (Turkey) was among the successful Turkish athletes moving onto the next round.
Team Ukraine also had a good day with Mykhailo Vasylioglo , bronze medal winner in the IFMA Championships defeating silver medalist Filip Waldt (Sweden) on points. And Vasyl Sorokin, silver medal winner at The World Games in Wroclaw, defeated Abdallah Habib also of Sweden.
In the heavier divisions Swedish athlete Johan Andersson defeated Ireland’s Scott Kelly at 81kgs on points – both athletes firing heavy leg-kicks throughout.
Among the favourites to advance were two-time champion Nili Block (Israel) after a tough battle with champion Isa Tidbald Keskikangas (Swe).This was a battle of the knees, with both going in for the clinch from the first bell seeking dominance.
Both Sofia Olofsson, and Patricia Axling (Sweden) won their bouts on points.
Russian sisters Svetlana and Ekaterina Vinnikova moved onto the next round, both winning on points.
Full results and tomorrow’s list of bouts on Ifmalive.com
Follow the Live steam on IFMA Youtube.
Behind the scenes video and interviews on EMF Facebook and IFMA Instagram and IFMA Twitter.
