National Elite Female Final previews
48kg – Light-flyweight – Lynn Harvey (Crumlin BC, Dublin) v Lynn McEnery (St Pauls BC, Waterford)
McEnery will be targeting her fourth title versus Lynn Harvey in Saturday’s 48kg final. The Waterford light-fly won two of her previous three belts on walkovers and beat Oliwia Samsanov in the 2012 final.
Dubliner Lynn Harvey received a bye into the finals and will be aiming for her first Elite belt.
54kg – Bantamweight – Dervla Duffy (Ryston BC, Kildare) v Michaela Walsh (Holy Family BC, Belfast)
If Hughie Myers and Chris Phelan win in the men’s finals on Friday, Dervla Duffy will be aiming for a Ryston BC hat-trick on Saturday.
Duffy is in against World Youth medallist Michael Walsh. Walsh beat Duffy by two points margins (12-10, 15-13) in the 2011 and 2012 finals at the National Stadium.
57kg – Featherweight – Joanna Lambe (Carrickmacross BC, Monaghan) v Lyndsey Doyle (Gorey BC, Wexford)
Lambe is back at the National Stadium for her second successive Elite final. Last year she was edged out by a single point (14-13) in the featherweight decider with Michaela Walsh, who has dropped back down to bantam.
Doyle claimed National Intermediate and Novice titles in 2012 at the National Stadium.
64kg – Light- welterweight – Kelly Harrington (Corinthians BC, Dublin) v Moira McElligott (Rathkeale BC, Limerick)
Harrington will be aiming for her third Elite belt on Saturday evening. The Dubliner beat Alanna Audley-Murphy in the 2011 final (5-3) and Sarah Close (13-10) in the 2013 decider.
Kerry-native McElliggott beat Close on a unanimous decision in the semi-finals, while Harrington saw off the challenge of Debbie O’Reilly, also on a unanimous decision.
69kg –Welterweight – Claire Grace (Callan BC, Kilkenny) v Laoise Traynor (Bray BC, Wicklow)
If Adam Nolan wins on Friday night and Laoise Traynor, the 2011 champion, dethrones defending champion Claire Grace on Saturday, the Bray BC will have won both welterweight belts at the 2014 Elite Championships.
However, Grace beat Traynor 15-8 in the 2013 final and will be targeting three in-a-row at the National Stadium.
75kg – Middleweight – Claire Sweetman (Palmerstown BC, Dublin) v Sinead Kavanagh (Drimnagh BC, Dublin)
Kavanagh will be targeting five on-the-trot in her all Dublin derby with Claire Sweetman on Saturday evening. The Drimnagh middleweight claimed the belts on walkovers in 2010 and 2012 and beat Patricia Roddy (13-4) and Caroline Connelly (25-6) in the 2011 and 2013 finals.
Sweetman, who won an Intermediate belt in 2013, and Kavanagh, received byes into the finals.
81+kg – Light-heavyweight – Diana Campbell (Garda BC) v Fionna Nelson (City of Belfast BC)
Nelson beat defending champion Lianne McAree-Murphy, a medallist at the 2013 EU Elite Championships, on a unanimous decision last weekend to book her ticket into the finals.
McAree-Murphy had beaten Nelson in the Ulster Elite Championships earlier this year. Campbell beat McAree-Murphy in the Celtic Box Cup in Waterford last year.
Finals
51KG Ceire Smith W/O
54KG Dervla Duffy (Ryston) v Michaela Walsh (Holy Family GG)
57KG Joanna Lambe (Carrickmacross) v Lyndsey Doyle (Gorey)
60kg Katie Taylor (Bray) W/O
64kg Kelly Harrington (Corinthians) v Moira McElligott (Rathkeale)
69kg Claire Grace (Callan) v Laoise Traynor (Bray)
75kg Claire Sweetman (Palmerstown) v Sinead Kavanagh (Drimnagh)
81kg Aishling Byrne (Paulstown) W/O
81+kg Diana Campbell (Garda) v Fionna Nelson (City of Belfast)
