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It was a battling opening day for Team Ireland at the 73rd International Strandja Tournament.

European U22 Champion, M63.5kg Dean Clancy, was the first of the team between the ropes, against Abdal Serik of Kazakhstan. He leaves the tournament following a 5-0 decision in favour of his opponent.

#TeamIreland, ready for the off at Strandja https://t.co/ufgcK6R71C pic.twitter.com/8yNpWOtt3w

— IABA (@IABABOXING) February 20, 2022

M67kg Eugene McKeever was next in action, against Hugo Grau of France, was next in action, and lost out on a unanimous decision in favour of Grau.

Super-heavy, Thomas Maughan, was the last Irish boxer between the ropes on the first day of the tournament, in the last bout in the Ring B evening session.

He took on Lithuanian, Jonas Jazevicius; his opponent came away with the unanimous decision.

All three boxers put in brave performances.

W48kg Shannon Sweeney, W50kg Caitlyn Fryers, W52kg Carly McNaul and Olympian, W57kg Michaela Walsh, are all in action on Monday, in the afternoon session which begins at midday, Irish time.

Shannon Sweeney is the first of Team Ireland in the ring tomorrow. She meets Italian, Roberta Bonatti, in Bout 5 of the first session in Ring A.

Caitlin Fryers takes on Eugenia Anghel (ROU) in Bout 11 in the same ring and session.

Carly McNaul takes on Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan in Ring B – also Bout 11 of the afternoon session.

Michael Walsh is the last Irish boxer in the ring on Monday – she boxes Lacramioara Perijoc (ROU), in Bout 10 of Ring A’s evening session, which begins at 4pm, Irish time.

Reigning W60kg Olympic Champion, Kellie Harrington, is in action on Tuesday, as are W70kg Christina Desmond and Olympian W75kg Aoife O’Rourke.

M57kg Adam Hession, M60kg JP Hale, M71kg Luke Maguire and M80kg Kelyn Cassidy all have byes. All but Luke Maguire box on Tuesday. Maguire is in action on Wednesday.

Rings A and B will be streamed on the IBA Boxing YouTube channel, and links for Monday’s sessions will be published on Monday morning

Team Ireland Squad:

F48kg Shannon Sweeney

F50kg Caitlin Fryers

F52kg Carly McNaul

F57kg Michaela Walsh

F60kg Kellie Harrington

F70kg Christina Desmond

F75kg Aoife O’Rourke

57kg Adam Hession

60kg JP Hale

63.5kg Dean Clancy

67kg Eugene McKeever

71kg Luke Maguire

80kg Kelyn Cassidy

92kg+ Thomas Maughan

But first, the opening 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament opening ceremony! https://t.co/fTOA0XBrO7 pic.twitter.com/Q4TMYKHK9t

— IABA (@IABABOXING) February 20, 2022

The competition schedule and individual draws for all 14 Team Ireland boxers are here

Strandja 2022 Day One Ring A Session One Results

Strandja 2022 Day One Ring A Session Two Results

Strandja 2022 Day One Ring B Session One Results

Strandja 2022 Day One Ring B Session Two Results

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Reigning European U22 champion, Dean Clancy will the the first Irish boxer between the ropes at the 73rd International Strandja Tournament.

He’ll take on Abdal Serik of Kazakhstan in Bout 6, afternoon session, Ring B. Action begins at 12pm, Irish time.

Next on day one is welterweight, Eugene McKeever, who takes on French opposition in the form of Hugo Grau in Bout 3 – evening session, Ring B.

Superheavy, Thomas Maughan, is the final Irish boxer in the ring tomorrow – he meets Jonas Jazevicius in the final bout of the evening session in Ring B.

M57kg Adam Hession, M60kg JP Hale, M71kg Luke Maguire and M80kg Kelyn Cassidy all have byes. All but Luke Maguire box on Tuesday. Maguire is in action on Wednesday.

Half of Team Ireland’s women begin their campaigns on Monday – W48kg Shannon Sweeney, W50kg Caitlyn Fryers, W52kg Carly McNaul and Olympian, W57kg Michaela Walsh, get in to the ring in the afternoon session.

Reigning W60kg Olympic Champion, Kellie Harrington, is in action on Tuesday, as are W70kg Christina Desmond and W75kg Aoife O’Rourke.

World governing body, the IBA, will stream the tournament on its YouTube Channel, here. Additional live-stream links are expected to be published here, on the 73rd International Strandja Tournament website.

The competition schedule, programme of boxing for the opening day’s bouts, and draw sheets for each member of Team Ireland are attached.

Team Ireland Squad:

F48kg Shannon Sweeney

F50kg Caitlin Fryers

F52kg Carly McNaul

F57kg Michaela Walsh

F60kg Kellie Harrington

F70kg Christina Desmond

F75kg Aoife O’Rourke

57kg Adam Hession

60kg JP Hale

63.5kg Dean Clancy

67kg Eugene McKeever

71kg Luke Maguire

80kg Kelyn Cassidy

92kg+ Thomas Maughan

Competition schedule:

Schedule of Boxing: Sunday, February 20th

W48kg: Shannon Sweeney

W50kg: Caitlyn Fryers

W52kg: Carly McNaul

W57kg: Michaela Walsh

W60kg Kellie Harrington

W70kg: Christina Desmond

W75kg: Aoife O’Rourke

M57kg: Adam Hession

M60kg: JP Hale

M63.5: Dean Clancy

M67kg: Eugene McKeever

M71kg: Luke Maguire

M80kg: Kelyn Cassidy

M92+kg: Thomas Maughan

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IABA Women in Sport Lead, Louise McKenzie, is now opening expressions of interest for the Lead – Women’s Boxing Programme.

IABA will fund the provision of a free 6-week programme for new women members in 20 clubs. The expression of interest form is attached, and the clubs will be included in the programme on a first come, first served, basis. We’ll provide social media images and logos to help clubs advertise their participation in this free programme. This programme is only available to affiliated clubs in RoI.

The opening of expressions of interest in the Lead-Women’s Boxing Programme follows the opening of registration on Monday for the Menstrual Cycle & Nutrition online seminar. This free seminar, open to affiliated clubs, is being will be facilitated by Stephen Floyd, Performance Nutritionist, and will focus the impact of restrictive diets & weight making has on the menstrual cycle, health & performance. There are a couple of places left and

clubs can register here.  

Additional resources will be released over the coming weeks and include:

• The IABA Women’s Mentor group, all of whom are graduates of the Sport Ireland Women in Sport Leadership programme, is gathering tips, advice and guidance for any club which wishes to increase the number of women and girls in their membership. This leaflet will be released in March.

• Champions – IABA will shortly invite expressions of interest from key women of boxing in every county to act as Boxing Ambassadors to women competitors, sports administrators, coaches and volunteers in their areas.

This first pillar of programmes and resources will be followed later this year by second suite of supports for clubs, and Louise welcomes your input on how best to support bringing more women and girls in to boxing in training, in competition, coaching or volunteering. You can get in touch with Louise through louise.mckenzie@iaba.ie

IABA is also preparing for Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Week, March 7^th to 14^th, when we will celebrate the role of women in boxing, be that in training, in volunteering, in coaching, competing, or sports administration, across all of our social media platforms.

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IABA would like to extend condolences to the family and friends of former Board Member, David O’Brien, on his passing.

David was also a former Secretary of the Munster Provincial Council and held numerous other offices in Irish boxing.

Funeral arrangements are being made, and will be available here

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IABA is pleased to announce a further easing of Covid 19 restrictions, from today, as they apply to boxing training and competition.

In doing this, IABA continues to emphasise the importance of personal responsibility among boxers, their parents, coaches, and volunteers in continuing not to attend any boxing event if they feel in any way unwell.

Government advises sporting bodies, including the IABA to continue to risk assess individual activities and events. This includes the continued implementation of good hygiene practices along with recommending symptomatic individuals do not participate in or attend sporting activities.

In January, the following restrictions were removed:

1.       Formal requirements for physical distancing of 2 metres removed

2.       8pm closing time for sporting events removed

3.       Capacity restrictions for outdoor sporting events removed

4.       Capacity restrictions for indoor sporting events removed

5.       Seated only spectators at indoor sporting events removed

6.       Use of pods for indoor sporting activities removed

7.       Use of a COVID pass to access indoor events removed

Today, IABA is confirming:

Ø  Mask Wearing: This requirement is now lifted in boxing settings, although it is very important to note that boxers, coaches and volunteers may continue to wear masks, if they wish to do so. Clubs should support the choice of any individual who wishes to continue to wear a mask in training.

Ø Covid 19 Screening: Clubs have been conducting pre-training and pre-competition Covid 19 Screening since clubs re-opened in August, 2020. This requirement is now lifted. IABA would like to thank boxing administrators who conducted and managed Covid Screening.

Ø  International Travel: Organisations partaking in international sporting activity should continue to monitor the travel requirements both in Ireland and the destination country. Sports should also note that the use of the Digital Certificate will continue for international travel for the immediate future. Further information can be found here

Additional Information:

• Current advice on self-isolation and restriction of movement is here
• Current advice on close contacts is here
• All HSE advice, in a variety of languages, is available here

 For clubs in Northern Ireland, all remaining Covid 19 restrictions have been lifted, and the emphasis has moved to personal responsibility. Additional information is available here

 The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) would like, once again, to acknowledge and recognise the continued commitment of members and boxing clubs in implementing and supporting the various public health measures.