Five Team Ireland boxers are gearing-up to contest European U19 Championship sem-finals, following the completion today of all quarter finals.

 Yesterday, 60kg Sean McCusker bagged a bronze, after victory over Finland’s Aapo Rovanper. Sean is back in action in his semi-final, against Greece’s Petros Nearchos Konstantinoudis on Tuesday. 75kg Nessa Tabachuk is also assured of a bronze, at minimum, following a bye to the semi-finals.

Team Ireland Co-Captain, 51kg Kayliegh Byrne, made short work of her quarter final, against home boxers Czech Republic’s Adela Sanislova Kayleigh, winning by RSC in Round 2. Kayleigh will vie for a medal up-grade on Wednesday, against England’s Ruby White.

Also in action against a home boxer was 57kg Grace Dowling, taking on Julie Polednikova – Grace dominated every round, winning a UD with scores of: 27:30; 26:30, 27:30; 27:30; 27:30. Grace will box her semi-final on Wednesday, against Mirela Elisa Mirel Cojocaru of Romania

65kg John Donoghue has won, at minimum, a bronze medal, following a decisive quarter final victory over Ukraine’s Vladyslav Zheleznov which included giving standing counts . Judges scored the bout 27:30; 26:30, 26:30; 26:30; 27:30. John will vie for a medal upgrade in his semi-final on Wednesday, against Greece’s Emmanouil Fotiadis.

Not to be for Team Ireland’s 90kg Shay O’Dowd – he boxed his high tempo quarter final against Slovakia’s David Zahradnicek – the unanimous decision went to the Slovakian boxer. Judges scored the bout 28:29, 28:29, 27:30, 27:30, 28:90

105 female and 189 male boxers from 33 nations are competiting in Ostrava. The participating nations are: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

Semi Finals

Monday is a rest day in Ostava, and semi finals will be boxed across Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th.

Sean McCusker will box his semi on Tuesday, while Kayleigh, Grace, Nessa and John are back in action on Wednesday.

All finals will be boxed on Thursday, October 9th.

Watch

The tournament is being live-streamed by the Czech Boxing Federation on its YouTube channel HERE. Links, per ring and session, will become available on the day of boxing

Team Ireland

48kg Chloe Cox, Setanta BC, Co. Kildare

50kg Kurt Kinsella, Monkstown BC Dublin

51kg Kayleigh Byrne, Gorey BC, Co. Wexford

55kg Michael Reilly. St. Paul’s BC, Co. Waterford

57kg Grace Conway, Tredagh BC, Co. Louth

60kg Sean McCusker, Dealgan BC, Co. Louth

65kg John Donoghue, Olympic BC, Co. Westmeath

70kg Katelyn Butler, St. Colman’s BC Co. Cork

70kg Patrick Kelly, St. Abban’s/Kilmyshall BC Co. Wexford

75kg Nessa Tabachuk, Celtic Eagles BC, Co. Galway

75kg Jason Whelan, Dublin Docklands BC

85kg Chulainn McDonnell, Whitechurch BC, Dublin

90kg Shay O’Dowd, Swords BC Dublin

Support staff:

Team Manager: Jennifer O’Sullivan, Sliabh Luachra BC, Kerry

Coaches: Liam Cunningham, Saints ABC, Belfast; Ralph McKay, St. Paul’s BC, Belfast; Aoife Hennigan. Swinford BC, Co. Mayo; Garry Keogh, Marble City BC, Co. Kilkenny

Team Ireland’s 60kg Sean McCusker is assured of at least a European U19 Championship bronze medal.

He contested his quarter finalover Finland’s Aapo Rovanper, and dominated throughout the bout . Sean is back in action in his semi-final, against Greece’s Petros Nearchos Konstantinoudis on Tuesday. Judges scored the bout 29:28; 30:27; 30:27; 29:28; 29:27. Sean becomes the second Team Ireland boxer to medal at the tournament, in the Czech Republic. 75kg Nessa Tabachuk is also assured of a bronze, at minimum, following a bye to the semi-finals

48kg Chloe Cox put in a valiant, high tempo performance in her European U19 Championship quarter final against Ukraine’s Anna Kurapatova. The 3-0 decision went to Kurapatova, on a scoreline of: 28:28
26:30; 27:29; 27:29; 28:28.

75kg Jason Whelan put in a high-octane performance in his quarter final, including give his opponent two standing counts – one a piece in the second and third rounds. The 4-1 split decision went to his opponent, Germany’s Marko Nedeljkovic. Judges scored the bout 29:28; 27:29; 27:30; 27:30; 28:29.

A brave and battling performance by 70kg Katelyn Butler, making her international debut at quarter final stage against opponent, Ukraine’s Anastasiia Taran, the 2024 European Youth champion at the weight. Taran was also a 2022 European Junior silver medalist. The 5-0 decision went to the Ukrainian boxer, on a scoreline of 30:27; 30:26; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27.

105 female and 189 male boxers from 33 nations are competiting in Ostrava. The participating nations are: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

Day Six – Quarter Finals

Four more Team Ireland athletes contest for medals on Sunday – the second day of quarter finals.

Team Co-Captain, 51kg Kayleigh Byrne is back for her second bout – contesting against home boxers, Adela Sanislova . That’s Bout 4 of Ring A’s Afternoon Session.

Also meeting Czech opposition is 57kg Grace Conway – she’s in Ring B’s Afternoon Session, against Julie Polednikova in Bout 3. In Bout 5 of the same ring and session, 65kg John Donoghue is in action against Ukraine’s Vladyslav Zheleznov.

90kg Shay O’Dowd waits until the Evening Session to vie for a medal. He takes on Slovakia’s David Zahradnicek in Ring B’s Bout 7.

Watch

The tournament is being live-streamed by the Czech Boxing Federation on its YouTube channel HERE. Links, per ring and session, will become available on the day of boxing

Team Ireland

48kg Chloe Cox, Setanta BC, Co. Kildare

50kg Kurt Kinsella, Monkstown BC Dublin

51kg Kayleigh Byrne, Gorey BC, Co. Wexford

55kg Michael Reilly. St. Paul’s BC, Co. Waterford

57kg Grace Conway, Tredagh BC, Co. Louth

60kg Sean McCusker, Dealgan BC, Co. Louth

65kg John Donoghue, Olympic BC, Co. Westmeath

70kg Katelyn Butler, St. Colman’s BC Co. Cork

70kg Patrick Kelly, St. Abban’s/Kilmyshall BC Co. Wexford

75kg Nessa Tabachuk, Celtic Eagles BC, Co. Galway

75kg Jason Whelan, Dublin Docklands BC

85kg Chulainn McDonnell, Whitechurch BC, Dublin

90kg Shay O’Dowd, Swords BC Dublin

Support staff:

Team Manager: Jennifer O’Sullivan, Sliabh Luachra BC, Kerry

Coaches: Liam Cunningham, Saints ABC, Belfast; Ralph McKay, St. Paul’s BC, Belfast; Aoife Hennigan. Swinford BC, Co. Mayo; Garry Keogh, Marble City BC, Co. Kilkenny

Shay O’Dowd has become the 8th Team Ireland boxer to win through to the medal stages of the European U19 Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

O’Dowd contested Buglaria’s Genadiev Roselin Bachevski, and the result went to a count-back after four 27:27 scores and one 28:26 score. The French, Czech and Polish judges found in the Irishman’s favour, according him a 3-2 win. He is back in action on Sunday, boxing Slovakia’s David Zahradnicek

A brave performance by 85kg Chulainn McDonnell his last 16 bout. He contested against Greece’s Ioannis Poumpouridis; the contest was concluded by an RSC.

Shay will join John Donoghue, Grace Conway, Kayleigh Byrne, who also box their quarter finals on Sunday -while 75kg Nessa Tabachuk is assured of a medal through a bye to the semi finals.

Day Five – Quarter Finals

Four Team Ireland boxers contest for medals on Saturday.

48kg Chloe Cox opens her account at the tournament today, in Bout 3 of Ring A’s Afternoon Session, taking on Ukraine’s Anna Kurapatova.

Over in Bout 6 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session, 60kg Sean McCusker returns for his 3rd bout of the championships, against Finland’s Aapo Rovanper.

In Ring B’s Evening Session, 70kg Katelyn Butler will box her first bout of the competition, against Ukraine’s Anastasiia Taran – that’s Bout 4.

Two bouts later in the same ring and session, 75kg Jason Whelan vies for a podium place against Germany’s Marko Nedeljkovic.

Day Five’s schedule is available here

Watch

The tournament is being live-streamed by the Czech Boxing Federation on its YouTube channel HERE. Links, per ring and session, will become available on the day of boxing

Team Ireland

48kg Chloe Cox, Setanta BC, Co. Kildare

50kg Kurt Kinsella, Monkstown BC Dublin

51kg Kayleigh Byrne, Gorey BC, Co. Wexford

55kg Michael Reilly. St. Paul’s BC, Co. Waterford

57kg Grace Conway, Tredagh BC, Co. Louth

60kg Sean McCusker, Dealgan BC, Co. Louth

65kg John Donoghue, Olympic BC, Co. Westmeath

70kg Katelyn Butler, St. Colman’s BC Co. Cork

70kg Patrick Kelly, St. Abban’s/Kilmyshall BC Co. Wexford

75kg Nessa Tabachuk, Celtic Eagles BC, Co. Galway

75kg Jason Whelan, Dublin Docklands BC

85kg Chulainn McDonnell, Whitechurch BC, Dublin

90kg Shay O’Dowd, Swords BC Dublin

Support staff:

Team Manager: Jennifer O’Sullivan, Sliabh Luachra BC, Kerry

Coaches: Liam Cunningham, Saints ABC, Belfast; Ralph McKay, St. Paul’s BC, Belfast; Aoife Hennigan. Swinford BC, Co. Mayo; Garry Keogh, Marble City BC, Co. Kilkenny

The teams and pairings have been announced for the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) International U23 round robin in Belfast as part of preparations for the World Boxing European U23 Championships in Hungary in November.

National U23 teams from Hungary and England, and an Ulster Select, will go up against Team Ireland in 8 sessions of boxing across October 9^th to 11^th, at the Girdwood Community Hub, 10 Girdwood Avenue, Belfast, BT14 6EG

In all, over 70 boxers will step between the ropes – with 96 bouts down for decision.

Tickets are available on the door, and are priced at £5 for children and £10 for adults. A ‘Schools Session”, where school-age children go free, takes place on Thursday between 12pm and 3pm.

All schedules are subject to change. Two rings will be in operation across all sessions.

Thursday, Oct 9 | Session One, Ring A 12pm | IRL V ENG

Thursday, Oct 9 | Session One, Ring B, 12pm | ULS V HUN

Thursday, Oct 9 | Session Two, Ring A, 5pm | IRL V ENG

Thursday, Oct 9 | Session Two, Ring B, 5pm | ULS V HUN

Friday, Oct 10 | Session One, Ring A, 5pm | IRL V HUN

Friday, Oct 10 | Session One, Ring B, 5pm | ULS V HUN

Saturday, Oct 11 | Session One, Ring A, 12pm | IRL V Ulster Select

Saturday, Oct 11 | Session One, Ring B, 12pm | ENG V HUN

High Performance Director Jon Mackey says “Development opportunities like this are vital for the progression of Irish boxing, and this round robin is a key part of Team Ireland’s preparations for the inaugural World Boxing European U23 Championships. We have a strong team, and pre-championship competition against teams like Hungary, England and an Ulster Select will only serve to further enhance preparations.” And, Jon adds “ We’re delighted to be back in Belfast, after June’s National Elite Competition. The Girdwood is a superb venue and Belfast City Council’s support is invaluable – as is that of the Ulster Boxing Council led by Kevin Duffy and the Antrim County Board, led by Paddy Barnes.  Our thanks, also to Central Council, led by President Anto Donnelly and the Officer Board, for their ongoing support.

IABA President, Anto Donnelly, says “This has been an exceptional year for boxer development through internationals across the Association. We have welcomed teams from Wales, France and India to compete at Youth internationals, a team from Austria at Elite level, and now Hungary, England and an Ulster Select. Hosting seven internationals in six months across two critical age categories speaks to how committed we are to getting Irish Boxing to top of international podiums. These internationals are also impossible without the contribution and expertise of volunteers at club level and also officials at weigh-ins, Referees and Judges, as technical officials. I thank each and every one of them for their dedication”

Ulster President, Kevin Duffy says ”We are thrilled to welcome Team Ireland, Hungary and England to Belfast what will be a truly momentous occasion for Belfast and for Irish sport. I’m also looking forward to cheering on the Ulster Select as they step between the ropes against national teams. This prestigious event marks a significant milestone, celebrating the strength, talent, and dedication of Ireland’s finest amateur boxers on a stage that reflects the passion and pride of Belfast’s boxing heritage. As a city long known for producing champions and fostering a deep love for the sport, it is an honour to welcome national teams as they prepare for the European U23 Championships . We extend a warm welcome to all athletes, coaches, and supporters, and look forward to witnessing an unforgettable showcase of skill, spirit, and sportsmanship. Thank you to Paddy Barnes, President of the Antrim Boxing Board and Liam Corr for helping to secure this event and we look forward to working in partnership with Central Council to ensure this truly is a memorable sporting occasion.”

Antrim President, Paddy Barnes Snr. ‘This round robin represents another great event for boxing in Belfast and one we are privileged to host in our great city. Belfast has a rich boxing history with over half of Irelands Olympic boxing medals (9) coming from Belfast, we hope to see the next batch of potential Olympic medalists on show. With support from the Belfast City Council and or Belfast Boxing Strategy, we can’t wait to host this historic event”

It was a Last 16 three from three for Team Ireland at the European U19 Championship in the Czech Republic today.

65kg John Donoghue, boxing his second contest of the tournament, has won through to the quarter finals in emphatic style – He was the victor in his contest against Romania’s Soren Segardi by way of RSC2. John boxes for a medal on Sunday, against Ukraine’s Vladyslav Zheleznov

60kg Sean McCusker, also back for bout no. 2, is through to the quarter finals, following a dominating Last 16 win over Estonia’s Aleksandr Jivoloup – which included giving his opponent a standing count in the second round. Sean was the 5-0 victor; judges scored the bout 25:30, 25:30, 24:30, 24:30, 25:30. Sean is back in action, boxing for a medal, on Saturday. He’ll take on Finland’s Aapo Rovanper.

75kg Jason Whelan is a quarter finalist by way of a unanimous decision victory over Bulgaria’s Sami Hisham Hashem Khalil. Judges scored the bout 26:30, 27:30, 28:29, 26:30, 27:29. Jason will vie for a podium place on Saturday, against Germany’s Marko Nedeljkovic

Sean, John and Jason join Grace Conway and Kayleigh Byrne in being one win away from a medal – three more boxers are in Last 16 action on Friday. 48kg Chloe Cox opens are account at quarter final stage on Saturday, as does 70kg Katelyn Butler, while 75kg Nessa Tabachuk is assured of a medal through a bye to the semi finals.

105 female and 189 male boxers from 33 nations are competiting. The participating nations are: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

Day Four

Two Team Ireland boxers step between the ropes on Friday, and both are making their tournament debut.

85kg Chulainn McDonnell of Whitechurch BC, Dublin is in Last 16 action against Greece’s Ioannis Poumpouridis – That’s Bout 2 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session.

90kg Shay O’Dowd of Swords BC Dublin is in action in the Last 16 against Buglaria’s Genadiev Roselin Bachevski in Bout 4 of Ring A’s Evening Session.

Day Four’s programme is available here

Watch

The tournament is being live-streamed by the Czech Boxing Federation on its YouTube channel HERE. Links, per ring and session, will become available on the day of boxing

Team Ireland

48kg Chloe Cox, Setanta BC, Co. Kildare

50kg Kurt Kinsella, Monkstown BC Dublin

51kg Kayleigh Byrne, Gorey BC, Co. Wexford

55kg Michael Reilly. St. Paul’s BC, Co. Waterford

57kg Grace Conway, Tredagh BC, Co. Louth

60kg Sean McCusker, Dealgan BC, Co. Louth

65kg John Donoghue, Olympic BC, Co. Westmeath

70kg Katelyn Butler, St. Colman’s BC Co. Cork

70kg Patrick Kelly, St. Abban’s/Kilmyshall BC Co. Wexford

75kg Nessa Tabachuk, Celtic Eagles BC, Co. Galway

75kg Jason Whelan, Dublin Docklands BC

85kg Chulainn McDonnell, Whitechurch BC, Dublin

90kg Shay O’Dowd, Swords BC Dublin

Support staff:

Team Manager: Jennifer O’Sullivan, Sliabh Luachra BC, Kerry

Coaches: Liam Cunningham, Saints ABC, Belfast; Ralph McKay, St. Paul’s BC, Belfast; Aoife Hennigan. Swinford BC, Co. Mayo; Garry Keogh, Marble City BC, Co. Kilkenny