Gold and silver for Rothes boxers

45-48kg Scottish female champion Emma McCulloch won the gold medal at the Golden Girl Championship in the Scandinavian country.

And fellow Glenrothes Boxing Club competitor Effy Kathopouli won silver, reaching the final of the 57kg category; losing to Russian Karina Tazabekova in what was voted the best fight of the tournament.

The success of the two fighters meant that Glenrothes Boxing Club finished ninth in the medal table out of 81 competing clubs.

McCulloch won her gold with three hard fought wins: against Norwegian champion Perzin Nazan which she won on a close split decision; French national chamnpion Marie Connan, again won on a close split decision, and in the final she put a stop to English boxer Zara Johnson’s 17 fight undefeated run to take the gold.

McCulloch said she was determined to take the top spot in the competition.

“I went all the way to Sweden to win gold and I was not going back with anything else,” she said.

Kathopouli’s silver was earned through wins against Sweden’s Marist Linbergh and England’s Lisa Morre.

She lost the final in what was deemed the competition’s best bout in a close decision by the judges.

In total, 296 boxers from 21 countries travelled to Sweden to take part.