Metal but no Medal for brave Carly McNaul

There was plenty of metal but ultimately no medal for a brave Carly McNaul this afternoon.

The Belfast flyweight was unable to get a big day of World Championship action for Ireland off to a winning start.

Ireland’s 52kg lost by unanimous decision to a talented Carolina De Almeida at the quarter-final stage.

The 32-year-old had enjoyed a brilliant tournament up and until Monday, she won through to quarter final stage by defeating reigning European U22 champion, Nikolina Cacic of Croatia, a fighter who beat Dana Moorehouse in the underage tournament – and would have gone into the medal fight full of confidence and hope.

However, the podium proved a step too far as McNaul was beaten on points. The Ormeau Road fighter wasn’t found wanting by way of heart or effort but was outboxed by a talented world level operator.

McNaul started fast and pushed her opponent back from the off. The Belfast fly was going for the volume approach and at times it looked effective. The aggressive tactic did lead to her getting caught clean and higher quality punches came from her opponent. Indeed, so impressed were the judges with De Almeida’s skill set she took the first round across the board.

The second round followed a similar pattern with the determined McNaul looking to force the pace and her opponent looking keep distance between the fighters.

The Commonwealth Games medal winner did use her jab more and closed the space more effectively and she appeared to benefit from the high tempo she set in the second half of the stanza. However, the judges again favoured the more stylish approach of De Almeida and she opened up a comfortable lead.

McNaul gave it her all in last round but couldn’t tame the fighter they call ‘Wolverine’ and eventually lost on points.

Team Ireland Squad

48kg Shannon Sweeney, St.Anne’ BCs, Mayo

 50kg Caitlin Fryers, Immaculata BC, Belfast

 52kg Carly McNaul, Ormeau Road BC, Belfast

 54kg Niamh Fay, Phoenix of Ballyboughal, Dublin

 57kg: Michaela Walsh: Emerald BC, Belfast

 63kg Amy Broadhurst: St.Bronagh’s  ABC, Rostrevor

 66kg Kaci Rock, Enniskerry BC, Wicklow

70kg Lisa O’Rourke, Olympic BC, Galway

75kg Aoife O’Rourke: Olympic BC, Galway

 Coaches:

Zauri Antia

John Conlan

Eoin Pluck

Noel Burke

Competition Venue:

Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey