Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/700383
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2016 Sport BOXING / KICKBOXING TENNIS Female boxers highlight GNXIII event THE main match at the recent Gladiators Night XIII was be- tween female athletes. There were also five national title belts in Kickboxing and Boxing. Diane Schembri (Team Noel) faced Mandy Cortis (Fight Fac- tory) for the World Boxing Union (WBU) Mediterranean Title Belt. It was a head to head match and counters to controlling the centre of the ring. Schembri repeatedly dodged Cortis's powerful punches who in turn pressed also into cor- ners. Both athletes hit each other several times with the back hand. At the end the jury gave a verdict of draw. Christian Caruana (Team Spar- tan) contended with Elvic Zam- mit (Malta Thai Boxing) in K1. Wtih continuous attacks and combination of strikes Zammit started to control the match. In the third round Caruana gained points with powerful strikes to the head. It seemed that they left their effect and Zammit's decided to stop the athlete from continu- ing. Shaun Falzon (Team Viking Team Jalen) won over Clayton De- sira (Team Noel) in the 74kg cat- egory in K1. Both athletes began by keeping the distance and work from afar and then they turned the technique to close quarters to use the knee. In the last round Falzon gained advantage in points by knocking down Desira. The ju- ry gave the victory by unanimous decision to Falzon. Matthew Palacaraz (Malta Thai Boxing) defeated Keith Micallef (Basement Kickboxing) in a K1 match. Absolute dominion from Palacaraz in all rounds with su- perior technique and strength. He gained a Knock Down on Micallef where the referee had to count. The jury gave the victory and the belt to Palacaraz with an unani- mous decision. Jesred Piscopo (Team Noel) faced Theon Camilleri (Art of Fighting) in K1. It was a balanced match where Piscopo worked more with kicks to keep distance and Camilleri more with punch- es. Both pressed each other until the end with relentless counter attacks. The match ended with a draw by a jury's decision. John Martin (Team Noel) beat Michael Carter (Browns Boxing) for the National Boxing Title. Martin kept on pressing con- stantly on Carter to gain points. Carter had 20kg more than Mar- tin and used this for his advantage to work chest to chest and slowing many of the attacks. Martin won the fight by points. There were also matches with athletes from the UK, France and Estonia. The Maltese athletes who won their match were Brandon Borg (Team Viking Team Jalen), Christopher Rotin (Team Noel), Kerstin Brown (Brown's Boxing), Lydon Chircop (Fight Factory) For more information visit Gladiators Promotions page or contact Master Noel Mercieca on 79208283 Gladiators Promotions. Serena and Vesnina progress SERENA Williams will play Elena Vesnina in the semi-finals of Wim- bledon after beating Anastasia Pavly- uchenkova 6-4 6-4. The world No 1 remains on course to win her 22nd Grand Slam. Ear- lier in the day, sister Venus also pro- gressed to the semi-final, and the two could meet in Saturday's final. Vesnina produced a similarly em- phatic display, cruising to a 6-2 6-2 win over Dominika Cibulkova. Williams was rarely troubled by Pav- lyuchenkova, serving well to maintain control throughout the match. After exchanging four service games each, Williams played a winning backhand return to clinch a break. After serving for the set, Williams continued pressure her opponent with powerful groundstrokes. Pav- lyuchenkova struggled to contain the American, and the breakthrough came once again in the ninth game of the set, as Pavlyuchenkova found the net. With Williams serving for the match, the will of Pavlyuchenkova failed and the top seed ended the match with an ace, setting up a tie with Vesnina. The Russian, who has won two major doubles events, had never be- fore gone beyond the fourth round of a singles Grand Slam, but found herself in complete control against Cibulkova. Breaking twice, Vesnina raced into an early lead and was never troubled. Although Cibulkova fought back until the end, she was unable to break serve and it was Vesnina who progressed to Thursday's semi-final match up. It now frees up Cibulkova's diary for the weekend, so that her wedding can go ahead as planned. Serena Williams beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets