Vic Darchinyan beats Rodrigo Guerrero in super-flyweight bout

PanARMENIAN.Net - Darchinyan weighed in for the bout at the division limit of 115 lbs., Guerrero a pound under at 114. It was Darchinyan’s third successful defense of the title he unified in 2008, only the second time Darchinyan has been the twelve round distance in fourteen title fights, and the first victory over that span of rounds.

Darchinyan boxed with confidence down the stretch even as Guerrero continued to press forward, a model for the heart and desire every challenger ought to bring to a chance at the top of the world. He clearly fell short, the unanimous decision scores lopsided at 118-110, 117-111, and a shutout 120-108 for Darchinyan, but he also clearly won the respect of the champion.

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Armenian amateur boxers Azat Hovhannisyan (w/c 57kg), Ara Puluzayan (w/c 60kg), Hrachik Javakhyan (w/c 64kg), Armen Yepremyan (w/c 69kg), Andranik Hakobyan (w/c 75kg) and Tsolak Ananikyan (w/c 91kg) - are participating in an international championship in Czech Republic

Snowboard: On March 6, the town of Tsakhkadzor hosted the first Armenian Snowboard Cross Championship, with 24 sportsmen participating.

Karen Mirzoyan of Tsakhkadzor won the champion’s title. Championship silver and bronze went to Mher Galstyan and Seyran Harutyunyan of Yerevan.

Championship awards were granted by RA Snowboarding Federation President Sedrak Kocharyan, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Arthur Petrosyan and US Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch.

Judo: On March 7, Dinamo sports complex hosted the Armenian Judo Cup, with 97 judo wrestlers participating (including 15 women wresters).

Judo Cup champions’ titles went to Yerjanik Karapetyan (48kg weight category), Roza Khachatryan (52kg weight category), Anush Hakobyan (57kg weight category) and Ani Ilichyan (+57kg weight category).

As Armenian Judo Federation president Aleksan Avetisyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, Armenia’s Cup fully meets International Federation standards.

In preparation for April 21 European Championship, Armenian judo wrestlers will have a team practice session in Abovyan on March 15-29, Federation president reported.

Chess: Armenia is represented by 17 chess players at the Individual Chess Championships going on in Rijeka, Croatia. After 5 rounds, the best results were shown by Hrant Melkumyan, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and Lilit Galoyan. All three are 0.5 point behind the leaders.

Weightlifting Minsk will host European Weightlifting Championships from April 2 to 11. Armenia will be represented by 9 sportsmen – Smbat Margaryan (w/c 56kg), Arakel Mirzoyan and Tigran Martirosyan (both w/c 77kg), Gevorg Poghosyan and Edgar Gevorgyan (both w/c 85kg), Arthur Babayan (w/c 105kg), Ruben Aleksanyan (w/c +105kg) as well as Meline Daluzyan (w/c 69kg) and Hripsime Khurshudyan ((w/c 75kg) - who are currently training in Tsaghkadzor.

Tennis David Nalbandian defeated Andreas Vinciguerra to give visiting Argentina a 3-2 victory over Sweden in their first-round Davis Cup matchup in Stockholm. The former Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian captured the fifth and deciding rubber by handling Vinciguerra in 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 fashion at Kungliga Tennis Hall. Nalbandian, who prevailed in 2 hours, 35 minutes on Day 3, replaced Eduardo Schwank for the final rubber, while Vinciguerra moved in for Joachim Johansson.