Jaya gains Euro gold for Leamington Spa

Jaya Kalsi…Cleary fighter breezed her final

WARWICKSHIRE has a European boxing champ.

And Leamington teenager Jaya Kalsi positively breezed today’s (Friday’s) School Euros final, held in Maribor, Slovenia.

Loose limbed and with hands low, the 13-year-old continually speared Anahit Harutyunyan, from Armenia, in the under 48kg class to claim a gold for England.

It proved a memorable tournament for the spa town that spawned world middleweight champ Randolph Turpin - and Edwin Cleary’s amateur gym, in particular.

Fellow Cleary boxer Serena Mali, aged 14, claimed bronze at the championships. Both girls look stars of the future.

Former pro Edwin said immediately after Jaya’s victory: “I’m exhausted and I haven’t done anything! She is in that gym six days a week. Jaya and Serena have done brilliantly. They are a dream to coach. They come in and do everything we ask them to do when we ask them to do it.

“Every so often a Tiger Woods and a Serena Williams comes along, and I think they’re like that. I think they can pitch the female sport to another level.”

Serena, boxing at under 46kg, showed fast hands and superb footwork to unanimously outpoint Ukraine’s Daria Liahotska in her opening bout.

Jaya produced lightning combinations to beat Maja Kuran of Poland on a 4-1 split decision.

Jaya showed real power in her second bout. Greek southpaw Evangelina Leon Maria made the mistake of going for all-out aggression in the second, suffered two standing counts and was stopped.

It was a much tighter affair for Serena who squeezed past Italian Giorgia La Rosa on a 3-2 split.

In the semis, Serena lost a 4-1 split to Ireland’s Ella Archibold in what became a scrappy affair. A team England spokesperson said: “On another day Serena would be in the final but she leaves with bronze and a great deal of pride from an excellent tournament.”

Jaya put on a performance of power and precision to beat Ukrainian Myroslava Yefremova, 4-1 – and set-up a star-studded performance in the final.