Eight Irish boxers aiming to secure Olympic Games qualification in Italy
By Kelyn Fitzgerald/sportsfile Cassidy Dream: Olympic Photo Waterford 80kg Petes In Category Man David The
The first of two Olympic boxing qualifiers which take place this year gets under way in Italy on Sunday.
Eight Irish boxers will be hoping to join the five who already qualified for Paris 2024 through the European Games last summer.
The draw for the competition, which features 602 boxers from 113 countries, was made on Saturday.
51kg Sean Mari, 92+kg Martin McDonagh and 50kg Daina Moorehouse will all be in action on the opening day of competition.
McDonagh, who claimed three domestic titles in a 10-month period last year, is in action in Bout 12 of Ring A’s afternoon session, against the Dominican Republic’s Fernely Ali Feliz. In the same session in Ring B, Mari takes on Romania’s Petre Cosmin Girleanu in Bout 8.
In the evening session, Moorehouse, a quarter finalist in the European Games, takes on Vietnam’s Thi Tam Nguyen in Bout 4 in Ring B.
On Monday, 54kg Jennifer Lehane meets France’s Romane Moulai in the opening bout of Ring A’s morning session. 80kg Kelyn Cassidy takes on Greece’s Michail Tsamalidis in Bout 8 of Ring B’s morning session and in the evening session in Ring A, 57kg Jude Gallagher meets Algeria’s Hichem Maouche, in Bout 7.
In the all weights which Ireland is contesting, reaching the last four will secure an Olympics spot.
High performance director Tricia Heberle says the aim is to qualify the largest ever boxing team to represent Ireland at an Olympic Games.
"Preparations for this crucial tournament for these athletes has included a domestic super camp with Ukraine, a men’s camp with Spain and Ulster, a women’s camp with France, Spain and Turkey, a heat acclimatisation Camp in Turkey, a training camp with 25 other federations in Assisi, and ongoing boxing technical learning supported by sport science practitioners in the daily training environment," said Heberle.
The full Irish team for the competition is 50kg Daina Moorehouse, Enniskerry BC, Wicklow; 54kg Jennifer Lehane, DCU Boxing Club, Dublin; 66kg Grainne Walsh, St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin; 51kg Sean Mari, Monkstown BC, Dublin; 57kg Jude Gallagher, Two Castles ABC, Tyrone; 71kg Aidan Walsh, Holy Family GG BC, Belfast; 80kg Kelyn Cassidy, Saviours Crystal, Waterford; 92+kg Martin McDonagh, Crumlin BC, Dublin.
The five Irish boxers who have already qualified are reigning lightweight Olympic champion, Kellie Harrington, Michaela Walsh (57kg), Aoife O’Rourke (75kg), 63.5kg Dean Clancy, and heavyweight Jack Marley.
The Olympics website will not begin broadcasting the competition until March 8th.