Guyanese Sampson and Vancooten attain world rankings after attending World Juniors

Following Guyana’s historic maiden appearance at the World Junior Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, emerging stars Tiquan Sampson and Akeelah Vancooten have attained world rankings, which is a milestone for local junior pugilists.

Vancooten is now ranked ninth globally in the 54-57kg featherweight division. By the same token, Sampson has now attained a ranking of 17 globally in the 57–60kg lightweight division.

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.”

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.

Guyana’s team also included veteran trainer Lennox Daniels.