At the upcoming Olympic Boxing Championship in Paris, 60% of the Irish fighters have successfully secured a first-round bye. This includes defending Olympic champion in the lightweight category, Kellie Harrington, and fellow European champ, Aoife O’Rourke. Harrington is due to start her lightweight title (60kg) defence on the 29th of July, in a last 16 match against either Alessia Mesiano from Italy or Gizen Ozer of Turkey.
O’Rourke (75kg), who has previously bested Poland’s Elzbieta Wokcik, will face her once again in the ring. Other Irish boxers who have received byes include Daina Moorehouse, Jenny Lehane, Michaela Walsh, and Jude Gallagher.
Moorehouse (50kg) is set to go head-to-head with Wassila Lkhadiri from France. Lehane (54kg) will face Yuan Chang of China, while Walsh (57kg) will be pitted against Bulgaria’s Svetlana Staneva.
Grainne Walsh (66kg), the only Irish female fighter who will compete in the opening round of 32, will face-off against Anna Luca Hamori from Hungary. Gallagher (57kg) is set to battle Carlo Paalam from the Philippines.
Male boxers include Dean Clancy (63.5kg), who is to fight Jordan’s Obada Alkasbeth. Aidan Walsh (71kg), a bronze medallist in Tokyo, will face Makan Traore of France in a preliminary round on the 28th of July. On the same day, Jack Marley (92kg) will square off against Poland’s Davlat Boltaev in a last 16 match.
The following events are scheduled for the relevant days in the 92kg Men’s categories: Jack Marley is to compete against Mateusz Bereznicki of Poland at 7.32pm on Monday, July 29th.
On Tuesday, July 30th, Kellie Harrington will compete in the Women’s 60kg categories, with her opponent yet to be confirmed. The match will take place at 2.46pm.
The next day, on Wednesday, July 31st, Jennifer Lehane will be facing Yuan Chang from China in the Women’s 54kg category at 11.36am. Later in the same day, at 2.30pm, Jude Gallagher will compete against Carlo Paalam from the Philippines in the Men’s 57kg division.
Continuing on to the evening, Aoife O’Rourke and Elzbieta Wojcik of Poland will face-off in the Women’s 75kg category at 8.52pm.
On Thursday, August 1st, Daina Moorehouse will engage in a bout against Wassila Lkhadiri of France in the Women’s 50kg category at 7pm.
And finally, Michaela Walsh will meet with Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria on Friday, Aug 2nd in the Women’s 57kg division at 2.46pm.