The European qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics will be decided next April in London.
The new dates for the postponed tournament are April 22 to April 26 at a venue to be confirmed in the English capital.
The tournament was shelved after three days of competition in London on March 16 last because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Irish captain Brendan Irvine qualified for Tokyo on the afternoon of March 16 a few hours before the competition was postponed.
As things stand, Kellie Harrington, Michaela Walsh, Aoife O’Rourke, George Bates, who is one win away from qualification, Emmett Brennan, Aidan Walsh, Michael Nevin, Kiril Afanasev and Dean Gardiner are still in play (see below fixtures) in London.
The Irish boxers that lost in London last March will, if selected, get a final shot at qualification at the final World qualifiers at a venue to be confirmed in early June.
It’s anticipated that the World qualifiers will be decided in Paris.
All of the Irish athletes – besides Bates who will book a ticket for Tokyo if he beats Azeri light-welter Javid Chalabiyev – remaining in the London qualifiers are two wins away from automatic qualification.
Box-offs will be used to determine the final places in London. For instance, if an athlete requiring a top-six finish reaches the quarter-finals and is beaten, he or she will go into a box-off with the other beaten quarter-finalists to determine the top six places.
There’s no ambiguity about the position of boxers needing to reach to last four – they must get to the semi-finals to qualify for the 32nd Olympiad.
(Irish skipper Irvine will meet Spain’s Gabriel Escobar in the quarter-finals for at least bronze in London. Both men have qualified for Tokyo.)
European Qualifiers for Tokyo 2020
Copperbox Arena London March 13/24, 2020
(Tournament was postponed on March 16 because of the Covid-19 outbreak)
March 17
Last 16
(Postponed)
57kg Michaela Walsh (Ireland) v Mona Mestian (France)
60kg Kellie Harrington (Ireland) v Aneta Rygielska (Poland)
63kg George Bates (Ireland) v Javid Chalabiyev (Azerbaijan)
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Ireland) v Viktoriya Kebikava (Belarus)
75kg Michael Nevin (Ireland) v Arman Darchinyan (Armenia)
81kg Emmet Brennan (Ireland) v Uke Smajli (Switzerland)
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Ireland) v Emanual Reyes (Spain)
March 18
Last 16
(Postponed)
69kg Aidan Walsh (Ireland) v Wahid Hambli (France)
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Ireland) v Petar Belberov (Bulgaria)
March 19
Q/Final
(Postponed)
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) v Gabriel Escobar (Spain)
Results
March 16
Last 32
69kg Aidan Walsh (Ireland) beat Pavel Kamanin (Spain) 5-0
75kg Michael Nevin (Ireland) beat Max der van Pas (Netherlands) 4-1
Last 16
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) beat Istavan Szaka (Hungary) 5-0
51kg Carly McNaul (Ireland) lost Charley Davison (Team Great Britain) 0-5
57kg Kurt Walker (Ireland) lost to Hamsat Shadolov (Germany) 0-5
March 15
Last 32
63kg George Bates (Ireland) beat Leon Dominguez (Spain) RSCI1
81kg Emmet Brennan (Ireland) beat Radenko Tomic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) RSC2
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Ireland) beat Begadze Nikoloz (Georgia) 4-1
Last 16
69kg Christina Desmond (Ireland) lost to Angela Carina (Italy) 0-5
Irish squad
(Olympic qualification standard in brackets)
Male
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Paul’s, Antrim) Cpt (Top 8) (qualified)
57kg Kurt Walker (Canal, Antrim) (Top 8)
63kg George Bates (St Mary’s, Dublin) (Top 8)
69kg Aidan Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim) (Top 6)
75kg Michael Nevin (Portlaoise, Laois) (Top 6)
81kg Emmet Brennan (Dublin Docklands) (Top 6)
91kg Kiril Afanasev (Smithfield, Dublin) (Top 4)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel, Tipperary) (Top 4)
Female
51kg Carly McNaul (Ormeau Road, Belfast) (Top 6)
57kg Michaela Walsh (Monkstown, Antrim) (Top 6)
60kg Kellie Harrington (St Mary’s, Dublin) (Top 6)
69kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgan’s, Cork, Garda BC) (Top 5)
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Castlerea, Roscommon) (Top 4)
High-Performance Director: Bernard Dunne
Coaches: Zaur Antia, John Conlan, Dmitry Dimitruk