Supergirl Recovers From Early Scare, Nabs Victory Over Vandaryeva
With age comes experience. But 18-year-old Supergirl showed the world that it’s possible to fast-track an in-ring education by scoring a narrow come-from-behind victory.
The teenage sensation defeated Ekaterina “Barbie” Vandaryeva via split decision in their strawweight Muay Thai bout at ONE: HEAVY HITTERS inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 14 January.
Neither woman wasted any time in kicking off the action. They both met in the middle of the Circle, put their heads down, and went all-out in a wild boxing exchange that sounded like hundreds of fish flopping around the deck of a boat.
Supergirl’s steaming right punches were the stars of the opening stanza. She repeatedly caught “Barbie” with them as the Belarusian tried to find her own target. The duo slowed toward the end of the round, and their exchanges became somewhat normal and predictable.
The second frame was anything but, however.
Vandaryeva caught Supergirl with a punching combination and knee that left the Thai damaged and searching for the support of the Circle Wall. “Barbie” followed this up by pinning her young opponent against the fence and throwing dozens of looping punches.
Although it appeared as if Supergirl had been sucked into the eye of a tornado, a closer inspection showed that most of Vandaryeva’s punches were absorbed by the Thai star’s biceps. Nonetheless, the teen was visibly stunned by the sheer volume of attacks from her rival.
For the remainder of the round, both women stood in front of each other and tried to recover.
Going into the final stanza, fans would have been forgiven for wondering if Supergirl was fit to continue. But she quickly dismissed those doubts.
With her chin tucked behind her shoulder, the Marrok Force representative walked forward and threw teeps and right hands that caught Vandaryeva clean.
“Barbie,” on the other hand, was still recovering from her staggering output in round two and had little to offer besides a three-piece combination in the waning seconds of the fight.
In the end, the judges granted the split-decision win to Supergirl, who improved her record to 39-5-1. Moreover, she may have earned a future date with her older sister Wondergirl’s foe, Jackie Buntan.
Read more: ONE: HEAVY HITTERS – Full Results For Every Fight
