Tough day at the European U22 Office for Team Ireland

It was a difficult day at the office for Team Ireland boxers contesting the European U22 Championships in Budva, Montenegro.

Four Irish teams were in continental action at the tournament and all suffered defeat.

St Pauls 63.5kg Shamie McDonagh contested his second prelim bout of the tournament, meeting Georgia’s Lasha Gangnidze in Bout 4 of Ring B’s Afternoon Session. The Georgian came away with the 5-0 decision, the bout was scored: 29:28; 29:28; 29:28; 29:28; 27:30.

James Whelan of Dublin Docklands lost in similar fashion to IBA Germany’s Danil Dadev 6 bouts later. The German came away with a 5-0 decision courtesy of 27:30; 28:29; 27:30; 27:30; 28: 29 card.

Whelan’s clubmate, 67kg Gareth Dowling, also exited the tournament via a points reverse. Dowling handed his opponent a standing eight count in the first round but Armenia’s Ararat Hartyunyan got his own back in the third and shaded a 3-2 split decision 29:28; 28:29; 28:29; 28:29; 29:28.

Rhys Owens couldn’t ensure a happy ending to a difficult day as the Erne BC boxer lost to Azerbaijan’s Maksud Khasmetov in Bout 4 of Ring B’s Evening Session. The lightweight gave a standing count in the 3rd round, by the judges found in favour of the Azerbaijani boxer, 29: 28; 29:28; 29:28; 29:28; 29:28.

Thirty-four teams with 299 boxers (202 men and 97 women) are in Budva. The participating teams are Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Georgia, IBA-Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and IBA-Neutral.

The host city, Budva, has a special resonance for Team Ireland – it was the location of the 2022 Women’s European Championship, where the team came home with 3 gold, a silver and 2 bronze medals, topping the table in the process.

Team Ireland had a very successful campaign at the 2022 European U22 Championships in Porec, Croatia, in March of that year, returning with 3 gold medals, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. The golds were claimed by heavyweight and now Paris 2024 Olympian, Jack Marley, Lisa O’Rourke who would claim a World gold just 2 months later, and 54kg Niamh Fay.

Team Ireland

48kg Nicole Buckley, St Carthages BC

50kg Chantelle Robinson, Saviours Crystal BC

57kg Robin Kelly, Ballynacargy BC

70kg Evelyn Igharo, Clann Naofa BC

75kg Bethany Doocey, Castlebar BC

81kg Dearbhla Tinnelly, Clann Naofa BC

48kg Padraig Downey, St. John Bosco BC, Antrim

51kg Clepson dos Santos, Holy Trinity BC

57kg Donagh Keary, Rathfriland BC

60kg Rhys Owens, Erne BC

63.5kg James “Shamie” McDonagh, St Paul’s Waterford

67kg Gareth Dowling, Dublin Docklands

75kg Gavin Rafferty, Dublin Docklands

80kg James Whelan, Dublin Docklands

86kg Kian Hedderman, O.L.O.L BC

Support Staff:

Team Manager, Sean Crowley

Coach: Jay Delaney

Coach: Lynne McEnery

Coach: Liam Cunningham

Coach: Aoife Hennigan

R&J: Stephen Kelly

Draw sheets, team lists and previous results are available here

Session 3A results

Boxing2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session3A Results

Session 4B results

Boxing2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session4B Results

Session 5A results

Boxing2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session5A Results

Session 6B results

Boxing2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session6B Results

Session 7A results

Boxing 2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session 7A results

Session 8B results

Boxing 2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session 8B results

Session 9A results

Boxing 2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session 9A results

Session 10B results

Boxing 2023 – EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships Session 10B results