Aidan Walsh and Jennifer Lehane have successfully advanced to the last 16 in the Olympic World Qualifier, following their victories in their matches held in Bangkok on Tuesday. Walsh scored a 4-1 victory over Algeria’s Youcef Islam Yaiche and is preparing for the next round. A position in the top four would assure him a secured spot in the Paris Olympics this summer. However, if he gets defeated in the last eight, he must win the box-off among the other three defeated fighters to secure the remaining Olympic spot. Competing in the 71kg division, the 27-year-old Belfast boxer, who bagged a bronze medal in Tokyo, will return to the ring tomorrow to compete against the winner of the fight between Aleksandr Trofimcuk and 2021 world champion Yurii Zakharieiev, for a quarter-final spot.
Jennifer Lehane, who fought in the bantamweight 54kg division in the later session, claimed a 4-1 victory over Puerto Rico’s Angelyris Lopez. She is now just two fights away from qualifying for the Paris Olympics. Lehane, a primary school teacher in Ashbourne, will have her next fight on Saturday.