Adamus becomes first Irish Boxer to win World Third Level Gold.

57kg Patrick Adamus made history in Turkey today, becoming the first ever Irish boxer to win gold at a World Third Level competition.

Adamus, of Drimnagh BC but boxing for his college, NCI, came to victory by way of a second round stoppage against a home opponent.

Leanne Murphy was unlucky to lose to the French boxer in her quarter final as the French boxer Fatia Benmessahel obliterated all her other opponents and even stopped the Ukrainian girl in the final. The luck of the draw for Leanne…..or unluckyness of the draw in this instance!

Aoibhe Carabine lost in the semi final to the Turkish boxer who then went on to easily win the title against the South Korean boxer. Aoibhe topped off her week with an excellent three rounds of sparring on finals morning with the Hungarian boxer who also was eliminated in the previous round.

Darren O’Connor lost out to experienced international Enzo Grau who is also a World Military Champion. Grau found the pace tough against his Ukrainian opponent and after yesterday’s non stop action against O’Connor, his tank emptied very quickly and he had to play second best to the Ukrainian. Coach, Paddy Gallagher says “A massive week for Darren here in Turkey and the experience will stand him in good stead when he returns to action in the National Championships at home in Ireland.”

Matthew McCole had to bow out of the Worlds with a bronze medal, after having three wins amd remaining unbeaten as a nasty head cut ended his championships. He was favourite to go all the way, like Adamus, and take gold. Coach, Paddy Gallagher, says “The compliments he received for his style of boxing came from many quarters including from some of the IBA chief officials involved running the championships.”

The World Cup includes 6 sports: Boxing, Karate, Muaythai, Sambo, Wrestling and Wushu. It takes place in Samsun, Turkey, from September 21st to 30th. The cup embraces a university-versus-university format instead of national delegations. The tournament ‘s website is here.

The Cup is a biannual event organised by FISU, the International University Sports Federation, of which Ireland has been a member since 1987.

Irish Team:

57kg: Patryk Adamus – National College of Ireland

63.5kg Darren O’Connor – University of Galway

66kg: Leanne Murphy – University of Limerick

71kg: Matthew McCole – Atlantic Technoligical University, Letterkenny

75kg Aoibhe Carabine – Atlantic Technoligical University, Galway.

Team Manager

Paul Geoghegan

Coach

Paddy Gallagher