Golden Girl title for Downend's Jasmine

DOWNEND Boxing Club took a team of four to Boras in Sweden to compete in the Golden Girl Championships.

Lacey Holloway, aged 11, Mya Das, 16, Alexa Smith, 18, and 22-year-old Jasmine Poole all put in great performances, with Jasmine winning her class.

Lacey had three contests in the 34k diploma class, beating both Destiny Jackson (Priory Park) and Ebony Issacs (Crewkerne) on points before missing out on a split decision against Fatima Salame (Nova, Sweden).

In the 60k youth class, Alexa stopped Freya Sheppard (Derby) in the second round, before having to withdraw from the final due to illness.

Mya gave a great performance in defeat to French champion Aya Baadi in the 48k youth class.

Jasmine took gold by beating Ajlina Bucaliu (Majorna, Italy) in the 63k elite class then beating Veronica Greggio (Sweden) on points in the final.

On the same weekend, 17-year-old Arthur Tipping represented a Western Counties team in Guernsey.

In a great contest against local lad Arnie Watson, both guys boxed at a blistering pace, with the points win going to the home boxer.

Straight from Sweden Mya Das travelled to Solihull in the Midlands to contest the National Youth Championships and looked to be pulling ahead in her semi-final contest against Hunter Lambert (Wath upon Dearne) before sustaining a nose injury in the final round that left the referee with no option other than to stop the contest.

Coach Bradley Smith said: "Mya was so mature in her reaction to the stoppage, realising that these things happen.

"She is keen to box again once the injury has healed."

February also saw 13-year-old Carter Slocombe make his debut at Broad Plain Boys Club in a skills contest.

March will bring a return to competition for 15-year-old Vinnie Bush.

He commences the National Junior Championships on the 5th in Timsbury, where clubmate Riley Catley, 19, seeks to avenge his only defeat to Norton Radstock's Jacob Moon.

The same event will see the competitive debut of Christopher Richardson, 19, when he meets Yeovil's Liam Fouracres. There will be second appearances for Caleb Rees and Issah Zaman in contest skills bouts at Hanham Folk Centre on the 12th.