An 18 strong team has been named to contest the 76th Strandja Memorial tournament to compete in Sofia, Bulgaria, from February 22nd to March 3rd.

Team Ireland has won 12 medals at the tournament, half of them gold, since 2020 at the tournament in which an average of 30 federations contest, annually.

The team includes members of the High Performance Senior Squad, the High Performance Priority Development Squad and the High Peformance Visiting Athlete Squad. 60kg Adam Hession of Monivea BC, has been named Team Captain.

The Men’s Team will attend a training camp at the tournament base, departing on February 15th. 57kg Gavin Ryan (Ratoath GG, Meath) and 63.5kg Roy Colgan (Avona, Dublin) will fly to Sofia to participate in the camp, only, owing to respecitive other commitments. The Women’s Team will participate in a domestic sparring camp with the Ulster High Performance Team in advance of departure, next week.

National High Performance Head Coach Zauri Antia says “Performances are key. I am looking for the best performances from each boxer, regardless of the outcome of the bout. This is a very exciting opportunity for this team – Strandja is very high standard tournament, the oldest international amateur boxing competition in Europe. Some of the best boxing nations in the world will be there, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan”

“It is a huge honour to represent IABA, internationally and I congratulate every member of the team on their selection, their clubs, club coaches and families”.

Team Ireland

48kg Ciara Walsh, Smithfield Boxing Club Dublin

50kg Shannon Sweeney, St. Anne’s BC, Westport Mayo

54kg Chloe Gabriel, Dublin Docklands BC

57kg Niamh Fay, Phoenix of Ballyboughal BC, Dublin

63kg Linda Desmond, Rylane BC, Cork

48kg Louis Rooney, Star ABC, Belfast

54kg Patsy Joyce, Olympic BC Mullingar

60kg Rhys Owens, Erne BC, Fermanagh

60kg Adam Hession, Monivea BC, Galway, Team Captain.

63.5kg Jason Nevin, Olympic BC Mullingar

63.5kg Dean Clancy, Sean McDermott BC, Leitrim

67kg Darren O’Connor, Olympic BC, Galway

75kg Gavin Rafferty, Dublin Docklands

75kg Josh Olaniyan, Jobstown BC, Dublin

80kg James Whelan, Dublin Docklands

86kg Brian Kennedy, St Brigid’s BC, Edenderry, Offaly

92kg Jack Marley, Monkstown BC, Dublin

92+kg Gus Ide, Crumlin BC, Dublin.

Team Manager: Sean Crowley

Head Coach: Zauri Antia

Coach: Lynne McEnery

Coach: Jay Delaney

Physio: Rob Tuomey

Medical: Colm McCrory (Strandja Men’s Camp, only).

R&J: Mal Scott.