The already history-making Team Ireland Women’s European Championship Team have broken even more records today.
After achieving the unprecedented feat, from and Irish Boxing perspective, of claiming 7 medals at a single championships and topping the medals table at quarter final stage, 5 boxers have won through to Saturday’s finals.
First in action today in Budva, Montenegro, was 48kg Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s, Mayo, against veteran, Bulgaria’s Sevda Asenova in the opening bout of the afternoon session. Shannon left it all in the ring, but the 5-0 decision went to the Bulgarian; 30:27, 29:28, 30:27, 29:28, 30:27. This has been a fantastic tournament for Shannon with a string of great performances.
In bout 5 of the same session, Olympian and Commonwealth Games champion, 57kg Micheala Walsh of Emerald BC, Belfast, meets Italy’s Irma Testa. It was a testy and closely fought Tokyo re-match. The 4-1 decision was awarded to Testa, and the Italian Federation tweeted after the bout “Our compliments to your Boxer…Michaela is an outstanding fighter”. Judges scored the bout 30:27, 29:28, 29:28, 28:29
30:27.
World Champion, 63kg Amy Broadhurst of St. Bronagh’s, Newry, contested her semi final against Croatia’s Sara Beram, and won the chance to up-grade her hardware on Saturday. The 5-0 win was scored 30:26
30:27, 30:27, 30:27, 30:27.
Former European medallist, 70kg Tina Desmond Dungarvan BC/Garda BC, took on Italy’s Melissa Gemini, and came away with a 5-0 win, and her first European final. The final score: 27:30, 26:30, 27:30, 27:30
27:30.
In the opening bout of the evening session 50kg Caitlin Fryers met Azerbaijan’s Anakhanim Ismayilova and put in a decisive performance in a testy bout – Caitlin goes forward following a 5-0 decision; 27:30,
26:30, 27:30, 27:30, 27:30.
In bout 6, Olympic champion Kellie Harrington contested against Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku, and is also through to the final, following a 5-0 win – 28:29, 27:30, 28:29, 27:30, 27:30. In bout 10, Olympian Aoife O’Rourke, took on Love Holgersson of Sweden and came away with the 4-1 decision. 28:29, 27:30, 27:30
28:29, 28:29.
Finals
22-year-old Irish Elite champion, Caitlin Fryers (50kg) meets Turkey’s Naz Buse Cakiroglu in Bout 2. Four bouts later, in Bout 6, Olympic lightweight champion, Kellie Harrington, ( silver, 2017; bronze, 2018), goes for gold against the Czech Republic’s Lenka Bernardova.
World Champion, 63kg Amy Broadhurst, a lightweight European bronze medallist in 2019, takes on Ukraine’s Mariia Bova in Bout 7. 70kg Christina Desmond – a bronze medallist at 75kg at the 2016 championship – contests her final against Armenia’s Ani Hovsepyan in Bout 9. Olympian and 2019 European gold medallist, 75kg Aoife O’Rourke meets Poland’s Elzbieta Wojcik.
Finals programme:
Watch the weigh-in:
Watch the finals:
Team Ireland Head Coach Zauri Antia says “What a team! To bring home seven medals, with five boxers in the finals – incredible! The boxers’ preparations for this competition have been excellent. They included a sparring camp with Team GP in our High-Performance base at the Institute of Sport, and a 12-day training camp hosted by Turkey. Every member of the team has performed extremely well throughout the tournament and gained very important experience. I would like to thank each boxer, and their club coaches, for their incredible commitment – also the team here in Budva of John Conlan, Dmitrij Dmitruk, Eoin Pluck and physio, Rob Tuomey. Boxing is an individual sport, but the success of each boxer is a team effort”
The team will return home on Sunday, landing at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 1 at 15:50hrs.
Team Ireland Squad
48kg: Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s, Mayo
50kg: Caitlin Fryers, Immaculata BC, Belfast
52kg: Carly McNaul, Ormeau Road BC, Belfast
54kg: Niamh Fay, Phoenix of Ballyboughal BC, Dublin
57kg: Michaela Walsh, Emerald BC, Belfast
60kg: Kellie Harrington, St. Mary’s BC, Dublin
63kg: Amy Broadhurst, St. Bronagh’s ABC, Newry
66kg: Kaci Rock, Enniskerry BC, Wicklow
70kg: Christina Desmond, Dungarvan BC/Garda BC
75kg: Aoife O’Rourke, Olympic BC, Galway
Coaches:
Zauri Antia
John Conlan
Dmitrij Dmitruk
Eoin Pluck
Physio
Rob Tuomey.
Drawsheets for Team Ireland are here
Day One results are here
Day Two results are here
Day Three results are here
Day Four results are here
Day Five results are here
Day Six results are here
Session 13 results:
Session 14 results:
Competition schedule: