Team Ireland’s Siofra Lawless and Adam Olaniyan made it two-for-two on the first of two days of finals at the World Youth Championships in Budva, Montenegro.
Siofra, who boxes out of Four Kings BC in Wicklow, took on Korea’s A Sin Pak for the 63kg title. Siofra’s ringcraft held her in good stead throughout the bout and she increased the scoring gap on her opponent with each successive rounds, relying on agility and a strong leading hand jab. Her hand was raised as the 4-1 winner. Judges scored the bout 30:27; 28:29; 30:27; 30:27; 30: 27. This is Siofra’s second World medal in under a year – she won World Junior gold at the championships in Yerevan, Armenia in December of 2023.
Adam contested the last bout of the day against Asian champion, Uzbekistan’s Shakzod Polvonov. Adam’s height advantage told from the off and, while his opponent was skillful, Adam superior accuracy, speed and tactical ability won the day on a 5-0 decision. The final scores were 30:27; 29:28; 29:28; 30:27; 30:27. Team Captain Adam is also the reigning European Youth champion at the weight
Finals, Day Two
2024 European champ, 66kg Kyla Doyle continued her domineering run of form on Thursday with a characteristic performance against China’s Shantibieke Dina, which included counts for her opponent. The final score line was 30:26; 30:26; 30:26; 30:24; 29:27 Kyla will box for gold against Kazakhstan’s Uldana Taubay – she was the RSC2 victor over Romania.
That is bout number 4.
Watch
Boxing begins at 3pm, Irish time.
Team Ireland
60kg Kayleigh Whelan, Avona BC, Dublin
63kg Siofra Lawless, Four Kings BC, Wicklow
66kg Kyla Doyle Byrne, Whitechurch BC Dublin
57kg Jamie Graham, Clonard BC, Belfast
60kg Martin McDonagh, Avona BC, Dublin
63.5kg Ryan Jenkins, Olympic BC Mullingar
71kg Tadhg O’Donnell, Four Kings BC, Wicklow
92+kg Adam Olaniyan, Jobstown BC, Dublin
Team Manager: Anna Moore
Coach Liam Cunningham
Coach Garry Kehoe
Coach Ralph McKay