Shannon Sweeney and Aoife O’Rourke have won through to the finals of the 2024 European Elite Championships.
Shannon Sweeney, who boxes at 50kg, took on Armenia’s Anush Grigoryan in a high-physicality contest. Shannon dominated the second and third rounds, and up-graded her bronze medal to at least silver by virtue of a 5-0 decision – judges scored the bout 30:27; 30:27; 29:28; 29:28; 29:28.
Double Olympian, 75kg Aoife O’Rourke, was in against Turkey’s Isildar Busra, a tough and powerful competitor. This was a tight bout, which ended in a 3-2 decision, triggering a bout review. After a tense wait, the 4-3 decision went in Aoife’s favour. The judges scores were: 29:28; 28:29; 28:29; 30:27; 29:28.
54kg Niamh Fay and 60kg Kellie Harrington will both come home with bronze. Niamh contested against veteran Romania boxer, Paris-qualified Lacramioara Perijoc, the defending champion at the weight. Niamh battled bravely against the 30 year old, but the 5-0 decision went to the Romanian boxer. The final scores were: 30:27; 30:27; 29:28; 30:27; 29:28.
Reigning Olympic champion and Paris qualified Kellie Harrington renewed rivalry with Serbia’s Natalia Shadrina. Kellie had last met the home boxer in the finals of the 2023 European Games, with the UD in the Irish woman’s favour. Today’s was a very close run contest, with high tempo and volume in the second and third rounds. The decision, 4-1, went to Shadrina. The judges scored the bout 29:28; 27:30; 28:29; 28:29; 27:30.
401 boxers from 38 federations will contest the championships. Prize money will be awarded in all weight categories, from quarter finalists to champions. Those finishing at the QF stage will receive $1,000; bronze medalists will be awarded $5,000 apiece. Winning silver means a $10,000 award, and champions will get $15,000.
Finals
Finals at the tournament will be boxed across two days, Saturday and Sunday. Both Shannon and Aoife will contest their finals on Saturday.
Shannon will vie for gold against Bulgaria’s Zlatislava Gena Chukanova in bout 2 – and Aoife boxes Russia’s Anastasiia Shamonova in Bout 10.
The only session to be boxed on Saturday will begin at 4pm, Irish time.
Programme
Watch
Weigh-ins:
Women’s Finals:
Team
50kg Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s BC, Mayo
54kg Niamh Fay, Phoenix of Ballyboughal BC, Dublin
57kg Michaela Walsh, Holy Family GG, Belfast
60kg Kellie Harrington, St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin
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
Draws are available here
Day One results are available here
Day Two results are available here
Day Three results are available here
Day Four results are available here
Day Five results are available here
Day Six results are available here
Semi Final Results
Session 25A
Session 26B
Session 27A
Session 28B