Guyana’s maiden appearance at the World Junior Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, resulted in local stars Tiquan Sampson and Akeelah Vancooten attaining historic world rankings, which is a first for local pugilists.
This was confirmed by an official release from the association. According to the correspondence, Vancooten attained a ranking of 9th in the 54–57 kg featherweight division. Meanwhile, Sampson has achieved a ranking of 17 globally in the 57–60 kg lightweight division. The duo attained these noteworthy rankings due to their performances at the event.
The World Junior Championships, which were previously staged eight years prior, though separately in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the men’s and Chinese Taipei for the women’s, featured 13 junior men’s and 13 women’s weight divisions. Steve Ninvalle, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), said, “The achievement of the duo, who are emerging pugilists on the local and regional scene, is testament to the importance and value that the association continues to place an emphasis on in its nursery and youth divisions.”
According to Ninvalle, “This is an historic achievement; while we would have attained international rankings for the seniors, we have never realised such a feat prior with the juniors, an accomplishment that was garnered at our debut at the junior world championships, which is another seminal moment.” He further said, “The GBA remains steadfast in its developmental efforts as we understand the value of creating the ideal foundation for sports growth and overall sustainability. This can only be achieved via a structured approach that features, as a main pillar, the partnership and combination of local programmes and regional and international competitions.”
