Aidan Walsh wins opening bout of gold medal quest

It’s one down, three to go for Aidan Walsh in his quest for #GoldMedalsOnly.

The Monkstown welterweight eased into the quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, breezing past Pakistani Gul Zaib and will join his sister Michaela in fighting for a medal on Tuesday morning.

Just over an hour previously, bantamweight Kurt Walker made it through to the quarters following a tough fight with an Australian but it was all one-way traffic for Walsh.

The speedy youngster was too good for his Asian opponent, taking a comfortable win to make it three wins on the bounce for the Northern Irish team Down Under.

Walsh will face a stiffer test in the Last Eight when he takes on Kiwi veteran Leroy Hindley, an Oceania bronze medalist and a participant in the previous Commonwealths where he won two fights but was eliminated in the quarters

The next Irish fighter in action will be at around 5:30am Sunday morning when Steven Donnelly takes on Sierra Leone’s Gibilla Kamara in the middleweight last 16.

Tomorrow at 9:30am then the team will go for their first medal with Kristina O’Hara boxing Welshwoman Lynsey Holdaway for light flyweight bronze while at 11:15am it’s the fight of the tournament with Sean McComb rematching England’s Luke McCormack in the light welter Last 16.

All times are Irish time, the Gold Coast is nine hours ahead of Ireland.

Photo Credit: Ricardo Guglielminotti – The Fightinish (@ThefIrish)