Kellie Harrington (red) in action
Team Ireland finish up their final training session for the 2019 European Games at the University of Jordanstown in Belfast tomorrow ahead of the second edition of the Continental Olympics in Minsk, Belarus later this month.
Ireland trained with India, Italy, Netherlands, Romania and USA in Ulster.The visitors wound up their camps yesterday.
Current World Elite champion and World No.1 Kellie Harrington lines out at lightweight in the Belarussian capital.
The boxing squad departs for Minsk next Tuesday. Approximately 4,000 athletes from 50 nations are slated to battle it out in 15 sports (23 disciplines).
Ireland’s 64-strong team will compete in archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, canoe sprint, cycling, gymnastics, judo and shooting.
Last time out, at the 1st European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, Ireland, courtesy of Katie Taylor, Michael O’Reilly, Brendan Irvine and Sean McComb claimed two gold, silver and bronze.
Irvine, who is included on the 2019 panel, took home silver from the inaugural Games.
Kurt Walker (red)
Kurt Walker was edged on a 2-1 split decision by Russia’s eventual gold medallist Bakhtovar Nazirov at the 2015 Games in Baku, while Michaela Walsh lost to Nazirov’s compatriot Elena Savelena, who also won gold, in the last eight four years ago.
Walker and Walsh, both current European Union Elite bantamweight champions, are also included in the Irish team for Minsk where Walker wants to improve on his previous outing in the Azeri capital four years ago.
“I’m hoping to put in some big performances out there training has been going well so far and we have an international sparring camp (Jordanstown) so everything is falling into place, he said.
“I went four years ago and didn’t get a medal so I’d like to turn that around and take gold home this time.”
Bernard Dunne, IABA High-Performance Director, believes that the European Games are ideal with the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 – which are expected to begin early next year (to be officially confirmed by the IOC at the end of the month) – looming on the immediate horizon.
“The squad are preparing really well for Minsk and are very much looking forward to what will be a high-quality tournament, he said.
“It’s all about performances and building toward the qualifiers for Tokyo.”
2015 European Games finalist Brendan Irvine (red)
Head coach Zaur Antia, John Conlan and Dmitry Dimitruk will be working’s Ireland’s corner at the Sports Palace in Minsk.
The 2018 European Games officially begin on June 20. Boxing begins 24 hours later.
Regan Buckley, Anthony Browne and Dean Gardner are likely to be the first between the ropes as the light fly, heavy and super-heavy classes are slated for Day 1.
Grainne Walsh, Aoife O’Rourke, James McGivern, Kieran Molloy and Michael Nevin line out at welter, middle, light-welter, welter and middle.
“Minsk will provide an exciting opportunity for Team Ireland to come together in a multi-sport environment to compete against some of the best talents in Europe, providing a measure to gauge where they stand,” said Tricia Heberle, Ireland Chef de Mission.
“As an athlete, you don’t get many chances to compete for your country in multi-sport events so it will be a good learning experience for many of the team as we prepare for Tokyo 2020.”
Team Ireland Boxing
Female
57kg Michaela Walsh Monkstown A)
60kg Kellie Harrington (St Marys)
69kg Gráinne Walsh (Sparticus)
75kg Aoife O’Rourke (Castlerea)
Male
49kg Regan Buckley (St Teresas)
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Pauls)
56kg Kurt Walker (Canal)
64kg James McGivern (St George’s)
69kg Kieran Molloy (Oughterard)
75kg Michael Nevin (Portlaoise)
91kg Tony Browne (St Michael’s Dublin)
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Clonmel)
TEAM IRELAND
Archery: Maeve Reidy (Recurve)
Athletics – Men: Nelvin Appiah-Konadu (High Jump); Brandon Arrey (4 x 400m); Stephen Gaffney (100m); Conall Kirk (Pursuit); Andrew Mellon (4 x 400m); Gerard O’Donnell (110m H); Paul White (Pursuit).
Women: Grace Casey (Javelin); Ciara Deely (4 x 400m); Sinead Denny (4 x 400m); Victoria Harris (Pursuit Race); Sarah Lavin (100m Hurdles); Sophie Meredith (Long Jump); Amy O’Donoghue (Pursuit Race); Niamh Whelan (100m),
Reserves: Paul Byrne, Luke Lennon-Ford, Kelly McGrory, Catherine McManus, Lily-Ann O’Hora, Moromoluwa Olusa
Badminton: Rachael Darragh (singles), Nhat Nguyen (singles); Chloe Magee (mixed doubles), Samuel Magee (mixed doubles); Joshua Magee (men’s doubles), Paul Reynolds
Canoe Sprint: Jenny Egan (Women’s K1 200, 500, 5000); Ronan Hughes (Men’s K1 200, 500, 5000)
Cycling – Road, Men: Mark Downey, Conor Dunne, Robert Jon McCarthy, Ryan Mullen, Michael O’Loughlin. Women: Alice Sharp; Track Men: Mark Downey, Felix English, JB Murphy, Marc Potts, Fintan Ryan: Track Women: Lydia Boylan, Mia Griffin, Lydia Gurley, Shannon McCurley, Robyn Stewart, Orla Walsh.
Gymnastics: Emma Slevin (Women’s All-Around); Adam Steele (Men’s All-Around)
Judo: Nathon Burns (Men’s Half-light weight -66kg); Ben Fletcher (Men’s Half-heavy weight -100kg); Megan Fletcher (Women’s Middle weight -70kg)
Shooting: Aoife Gormally (Women’s Shotgun Trap)
