Three wins for Ireland on the opening day of the European Schools Championships.

Three wins for Ireland on the opening day of the 2024 European School Championships in Banja Luca.

Thirty nations are participating: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. There are 363 boxers in the tournament – 363 boys and 240 girls. August 8th is a rest day at the tournament. This is the 21st iteration of the championship. The first Europeans, for male boxers 13 and 14 years old, was held in Rome, Italy in 2003. The most successful team was Turkey, who went home with six gold medals. Second place went to Russia, with three champions, while Ireland, Italy, Azerbaijan and England had one gold medal each. The first EUBC Schoolgirls European Boxing Championships was held in Albena, Bulgaria in 2018. Fifteen years after the inaugural Schoolboys Championships, 12 girls were crowned European Champions.

40kg Rylee Finn opened Ireland’s account at the tournament, and battled bravely against Russia’s Avram Tseboev, but the 5-0 decision went to his opponent. Judges scored the bout 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 29:28. Next up was 48kg Christy Joyce, contesting against Romania’s Emmanuel Ioan Anton. Christy was dominant from the first bell, and claimed the 5-0 decision. The final scores were: 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27. Christy is next in action, in second series preliminaries, on Sunday.

Team Co-Captain 57kg Michael Mullaney (Claremorris) exists the competition on the narrowest of margins. The 3-2 split decision went to his opponent Turkey’s Baturalap Cetrik, following a highly competitive contest Judges scored the bout 28:29; 28:29; 30:27; 29:28; 30-27.

70kg Dominic Barrett (Titans) contested against Gigi Archaia, and was the victor by way of Round 2 RSC. He will box his quarter final on Wednesday.

A brave performance by 90kg Michael James McDonagh, contesting against Russia’s Alim Gabaraev – and the UD went his opponent. The final scores: 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 30:27; 27:30. 46kg Jack Jones put in a courageous performance in his preliminaries bout against Russia’s Ruslan Avetisian – and the 5-0 decision went to the Russian boxer. The final scores were: 26:30; 26:30; 26:30; 25:30. 42kg Emmet Shields contested bravely against Azerbaijan’s Ali Abasli, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion as the 5-0 decision went to the Azerbaijani boxer. 63kg Jamie Herbert Jacob contested against Edouard Marian Tangerica of Romania – a brave performance, but the 5-0 decision went to his opponent. The final scores: 30:27; 30:27: 30: 27; 29:28; 30:27.

A decisive win for Tadhg Brennan Tansey in Banja Luka – the 54kg boxer took on Georgia’s Alexi Gunia, and was the 5-0 victor. Judges scored the bout: 29:28; 30:27; 30:27; 29:28; 30: 27. He’s back in action on Monday.

Ireland came home from the 2023 European School Championships in Slovenia with 3 gold, 1 silver and 7 bronze medals – along with the 3rd place finish in the medals table. 32 federations competed in the tournament. In all, 380 boxers contested the tournament. Ukraine topped the medals table with 20, followed by England, with 12. Team Ireland had the largest women’s team, of 12 boxers, and the joint second-largest men’s team, of 14 boxers.

Day Two

Another bumper day for Ireland, with 8 boxers between the ropes.

48kg Christy Joyce is back between the ropes today, for his second bout of the tournament. He takes on Turkey’s Mustafa Dogan Eren in Bout 12 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session.

46kg Aleigha Murphy (Crumlin) opens her account at the tournament in Bout 4 of Ring A’s Evening Session against Christina Simone Milosi. 4 bouts later, Team Co-Captain 51kg Ella Archbold (Ballybrack) takes on Italy’s Aurora Turrin. In Bout 11 of the same ring and session, 57kg Ruth Dossen (Olympic C) meets Francesca Goodman of England.

Over in Ring B, 40kg Alanna Berry (Crumlin) opens proceedings against Turkey’s Eylul Inici. In Bout 3, clubmate, 44kg Alannah Murphy takes on Poland’s Aleksandra Migaczew. 48kg Maggie McDonagh (Mullingar Elite) is in action Bout 7 against Zarina Kuchieva and in Bout 11, 64kg Robin O’Reilly (Monkstown D) contests against Azerbaijan’s Fidan Bakarova.

04.08.2024 Download

Watch

The EUBC is streaming the tournament on its YouTube channel – Afternoon Sessions begin at 2pm, Irish time, while the Evening Session gets underway at 5pm.

Ring A