5 more Team Ireland boxers have won through to the Quarter Finals of the European Games.
Clearly a big day performer, Cassidy defeated Great Britain’s Taylor Jay Bevan in a unanimous decision; 5-0. The Waterford boxer opened aggressively and never let up, taking a clear win.
Speaking afterwards he said; “From the get-go I knew we had to win the first round. The boxer from GB; he’s a good lad, very, very good. We knew that the first round was the main round, so we got up. The second round was just a bit cagey, I knew he was going to put it on me because he’s tough. He was tough and he did put it on me, so I have to give him that. But it was down 3-2 in the second round, so we kicked on the third round and knew we had to grab it, so happy days!
“He’s a very tough lad and would hurt you, he’s really strong. But look, you just need to stick to my boxing, that’s what I’m here to do, box and perform, and it is paying off! ” Whilst stepping up for the big stage, Cassidy credits his hard work and preparation with his progress; “I’ve been putting in the hard work back in Ireland, back in the High Performance centre so I know that all the boxes are ticked. I can’t doubt myself, out there is where you enjoy it, and that’s what I’m here to do; perform and represent myself.”
Listen to Kelyn’s interview in full, here
From Sallynoggin in Dublin, Jack Marley kicked off his Olympic campaign with a split 4-1 win over a strong Greek boxer, Vagkan Nanitzanian in their Heavyweight (92kg) bout. The Greek fighter took the opening round, which spurred Marley on to up the ante, refocus, and win the remaining two rounds. In this weight division only the two finalists will qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris, meaning that Marley is two fights away from booking a precious spot. He will now meet Croatian Marko Calic on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Speaking afterwards Marley said, “It was good just to get the first one under my belt. It was a long old wait out here…just waiting to get in there and just rough it up, but we’ve done it now anyway. The first one’s on the way, so the ball is rolling and then it’s just one fight at a time so I’m looking forward to it” and, he adds “I knew what kind of rough dirty fighter he was, so I didn’t want to go all out in the first round and end up banging heads or anything. I was a bit cautious in the first round then we completely just wiped that from the tactics so I had to get my hands dirty. I’ll enjoy the victory today and then tomorrow morning I’ll look at the next one.”
Listen to Jack’s interview in full, here
This evening Amy Broadhurst cruised into the 66kg quarter-finals with a dominant win over Latvia’s Beatrise Rozentale. The Dundalk 63kg World Champion made easy work of her younger opponent, taking a 4-1 victory in their Welterweight encounter. She will now compete in the quarter-finals on Wednesday against Great Britain’s Rosie Joy Eccles.
Speaking after the fight Broadhurst said, “I was probably more dominant than I was expecting, to be honest. I thought she was going to come out and and just run at me because I sparred her in May and she’s a tough girl; there’s no quitting in her. It was a good performance and I’m happy with how I performed over the three rounds and I done what the coaches told me to do and, and that’s all they ask for.”
She continued; “Once you get in and you try your best and you do what you’re told, then the rest will take care of itself. You put your trust into these coaches because they’re world class and this is the results you get.You get wins and you get dominant wins as well”. Referring to her immense power that was obvious to all at the Nowy Targ Arena this evening she said; “I don’t know where I get the strength from. I’d say I get it from my dad. My dad is a block of a man, so I’m blaming it on him that I’ve inherited his strength. I’m lucky in that sense because if I didn’t have the power that I do have, I think I’d struggle a little bit more at this weight.”
In the final fight of six for the Irish today, Flyweight Sean Mari was beaten by the reigning European Champion and World Bronze Medallist; Martin Molina Salvador of Spain, with a 5-0 scorecard. The Dubliner will now focus building on this experience ahead of the the world qualifiers for the Paris Olympic Games next year.
Earlier today Jenny Lehane and Kellie Harrington also secured wins to progress to the quarter-finals on Wednesday, where a further win will secure all important Olympic qualification for Paris 2024.
Speaking after the fight the reigning Olympic champion said; “It didn’t feel so comfortable to be honest, I was quite nervous going in. I had seen that girl back in October in the Europeans in Montenegro, and I thought she was quite special, and she is special; she is one to watch, so it was a really good fight. I had the tactics spot on, so happy enough I move forward to the next one.
“I love to get going from the start, you shake off the dust and then sometimes you get better as you go along. Sometimes you don’t, sometimes you do, and I just think it’s great to get that fight, the ring dust.
“I haven’t thought too far ahead, I’m just here to enjoy myself, to be honest, I haven’t really been enjoying it for a while. I have got the hunger back in the last few camps we have had, I’ve been feeling the joy and feeling the love again. Whatever happens here happens, and whatever doesn’t happen, doesn’t.”
Listen to Kellie’s interview in full here
Ashbourne’s Lehane was the first Irish fighter in the ring today, competing in the Bantamweight (54kg) Round of 16 against Greek boxer; Antonia Filipp Giannakopoulou. The Meath native dominated all three rounds, even with a point deduction in the first round not impacting the final decision. She progresses to meet Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova Bulgaria in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Speaking after the fight she said; “Yeah, we know it was going to be a tough fight. She’s very much an aggressor, so I was expecting her to be coming forward. A lot of the tactics went to plan. Others, you know, I got a bit mixed up in inside there, and that resulted in a point deduction first round, but I dug deep for round two and then again for round three, pushed it on to get a unanimous decision. So, I’m happy out.
“We had a keyword going into the fight, which was space, so my coaches were putting that back into my head, not get caught up in there because she does like to get in and get rough. So, yeah, I’m not too sure if I pulled it off that much, but I did come out, I came out on top, so I got the job done.”
Listen to Jenny’s interview in full here
After another long day in the ring Irish Head Coach Zaur Anita had this to say; “My team is brilliant. We have five in quarter finals already now. Five of us already are boxing to make the Olympic Games and then we have three tomorrow, so we’re making a statement on the big stage. We have an unbelievable team and, and all the hard work is paying off for all of us.”
Yesterday, 63.5kg Dean Clancy became the first Team Ireland boxer to win a berth in the quarter finals.
Collected Team Ireland European Games interviews are available here
Preliminaries, Day Five
Three Team Ireland boxers are in action on Tuesday, and two are making their tournament debut. 50kg Daina Moorehouse is in action against Ukraine’s Tetiana Kob in bout 2 of Ring B’s evening session – they’re underway at 5.15pm, Irish time.
57kg Michaela Walsh returns for her second bout of the tournament – she faces Turkey’s Aysen Taksin in the Last 16. They’ll do battle in Ring A’s evening session, in bout 3 scheduled to begin at 5.45pm, Irish time. Over in Ring B, in bout 6 at about 7.15pm, 75kg Aoife O’Rourke will begin her campaign having received a first round bye. She meets EOC Refugee team member, Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba
Qualification
The European Games is an Olympic Qualification event. A total of 44 places at Paris 2024 are available at these Games. In all weights excepting 75kg, 51kg and 92kg, a semi-final finish will win qualification. In these three weights, a finals finish is required. 319 boxers, in all, are contesting the tournament.
Watch
Bouts will be streamed here
All draws for all Team Ireland boxers are here and all results and schedules are available here