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The Hungarian delegation finished the European Boxing Championships last week with two silver and four bronze medals. Attila Bernáth and Regina Lakos both reached the final, while Gábor Virbán, Richárd Kovács, Hanna Lakotár, and Réka Hoffmann, who lost their semi-finals, all finished as bronze medalists.
The first medal for the Hungarian team was won by Hanna Lakotár on Thursday in Belgrade. The 54 kg Hungarian boxer reached the last four by defeating Armenian and Polish rivals, where she was opposed by Serbian Sara Cirkovic, to whom she lost with a unanimous score. Lakotár achieved the biggest success of her career so far.
On the same day, Réka Hoffmann (+81 kg) also won a bronze medal. Hoffmann began the continental tournament in the semi-finals, fighting a huge battle with Daria Kozorez of Moldova for the final. Both sides performed excellently until halfway, but Hoffmann was clearly more inaccurate than her rival in the final stretch, losing the match.
The third Hungarian medalist of the continental event was Gábor Virbán in the 54 kg category, who reached the semi-finals after defeating his Belarusian and then Armenian rivals. But there he lost on points to France’s Billal Bennama, who is half a head taller than him, to take third place. The last Hungarian match of Thursday was played by Olympic quota holder Richárd Kovács (63.5 kg), who had a very tough task ahead of him, as he had to fight against the outstanding Russian Gabil Mamedov in the semi-finals. The Hungarian athlete fought steadily but could not gain the upper hand and lost with a unanimous score and won the European bronze medal again after 2022.
The Hungarian success story continued on Saturday: Regina Lakos (70 kg) won the silver medal after losing to her Russian rival in the final. Lakos won the Hungarian delegation’s first silver medal in the Serbian capital.
I tried to give my best, to enjoy the final. It is the best result of my career so far (…),”
Lakos told M1 news channel. She had to undergo surgery earlier for a shoulder injury and a broken hand, so as she put it, in December she would not have believed she would be playing in the final of the continental tournament.
On Sunday, the final day, the Hungarian delegation won one last medal: Attila Bernáth (51 kg) won the silver medal after a final against Türkiye’s Samet Gümüssel. Bernáth produced a high standard of boxing throughout the whole European Championships, and after his semi-final on Thursday, he was full of confidence and promised to win a gold medal for Sunday. Although the gold medal did not come in the end, Bernáth still achieved the biggest success of his career. Speaking to M1 after the match, Bernáth said that federal captain Hamid Tangribergenov had told him that day that he would represent Hungary at the final Olympic qualifying tournament in Bangkok at the end of May.
I am really looking forward to qualification. I feel like I have the Olympics in me. I am going to Bangkok and I am going to make it,”
said the Hungarian boxer firmly.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook / Magyar Ökölvívó Szakszövetség / Hungarian Boxing Association