Point deductions cost Aidan Walsh dear in Olympic qualification bout
Point deductions cost Aidan Walsh dear once again today.
The Belfast fighter paid the ultimate price for boxing indiscretions as two-point deductions prevented him from securing passage to Paris this morning.
The Tokyo Olympian looked on course to dance his way to victory and thus become a two-time Olympian when he took the first round of his Olympic qualification clash across the board.
However, point deductions in the remaining two stanzas handed the ascendency and eventually the win to his opponent, Jordan’s Zeyad Eashash.
Walsh suffered a similar fate in Italy at the first qualifier earlier this year, with point deductions for indiscretions playing a vital role in his defeat to Wanderson de Oliveira.
Fortunately for the Holy Family man, the 71kg weight class is the only one with a back door, he now enters a mini-tournament of beaten quarter-finalists, the winner of which gets an Olympic slot.
Walsh took the first round unanimously and looked in control in the second, only for his style to get under the skin of the referee.
The man in the middle first called for more engagement from the fleet-footed Belfast fighter and then docked him a point for holding, giving the Jordan native a glimmer of hope.
Still, Walsh went into the last up on three cards but seemingly worried about annoying the ref with a backfoot approach, he found himself holding his feet more, much to the delight of his opponent.
It lead to the Olympic bronze medal holding and the referee docking him a point once more, opening the door on the plane to Eashash, who took the fight 4-1.
Daina Moorehouse registered victory in Thailand earlier today but remains two wins away from qualification, while Grainne Walsh returns for her third bout of the tournament later in the day. The Offaly native, who fights out of St Mary’s Dublin, contests against Ivory Coast’s Sedja Sanogo in Bout 3 of Ring B’s Evening Session, at around 1 pm.
TEAM
50kg Daina Moorehouse, Enniskerry BC, Co. Wicklow
54kg Jennifer Lehane, DCU Boxing Club, Dublin
66kg Grainne Walsh, St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin
51kg Sean Mari, Monkstown BC, Dublin
71kg Aidan Walsh, Holy Family Golden Gloves BC, Belfast
80kg Kelyn Cassidy, Saviour’s Crystal, Waterford.
92+kg Martin McDonagh, Galway Boxing Club.
