Team Ireland 71kg Eugene McKeever put in a brave and skillful performance in his 75th Strandja Memorial Tournament quarter final today and does not progress on the narrowest of margins.
Eugene met India’s Akash Akash in the opening bout of Ring B’s evening session, and the two battled throughout 3 rounds to a 3-2 split; the decision going in favour of the Indian boxer. Judges scored the bout 28:29; 30:27; 27:30; 28:29; 29:28;
261 boxers from 28 federations will contest the tournament, hosted in Sofia by the Bulgarian Boxing Federation. Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, China, France, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tukey, Turkey and Uzbekistan have all fielded teams.
Semi Finals
Two Paris-qualified Team Ireland boxers will contest Saturday’s semi finals – 75kg Aoife O’Rourke and 92kg Jack Marley.
Aoife boxes Qian Li of China in Bout 6 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session. Qian Li is the reigning Asian Games middleweight champion, and a Tokyo silver medalist and Rio bronze medalist at the weight, and has won World 75kg gold, silver and bronze since 2014.
Jack takes on Greece’s Vagkan Nanitzanian in Bout 6 of Ring A’s evening session. These boxers last met in the European Games Round of 16, when Jack came away with a 4-1 win, eventually leading to his qualification for Paris 2024.
Programme
Watch
The Bulgarian Boxing Federation is streaming the tournament on its YouTube Channel – links, per ring and session, become available on the day of boxing. The afternoon session begins at 12pm, Irish time, and the evening session at 2.30pm, Irish time.
Team
50kg Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s BC, Mayo*
54kg Niamh Fay, Phoenix of Ballyboughal BC, Dublin
57kg Michaela Walsh, Holy Family GG, Belfast
66kg Lisa O’Rourke, Castlerea BC, Roscommon
75kg Aoife O’Rourke, Castlerea BC, Roscommon
51kg Rickey Nesbitt, Holy Family BC, Drogheda
57kg Adam Hession, Monivea BC, Galway
63.5kg Dean Clancy, Sean McDermott BC, Leitrim
71kg Eugene McKeever, Holy Family, Drogheda
92kg Jack Marley, Monkstown BC, Dublin
92+kg Martin McDonagh, Crumlin, Dublin.
Draws are available here
Day One: Team Ireland didn’t box.
Day Two results are here
Day Three results are here
Day Four results are here
Day Five results are here
Session 19A results
Session 20B results
Session 21A results
Session 22A results