Three wins from six from Ireland-Friday scheduled
Katie Taylor will be in action at approximately 12.30pm on Friday. Brendan Irivne (4pm) and David Oliver Joyce just before 5pm, (Irish times apply).
Please see below attachment for Friday’s semi-final schedule.
Ireland recorded three wins from six on a see-saw day in the quarter-finals of the European Olympic qualifiers in Samsun, Turkey.
Olympic champion Katie Taylor, David Oliver Joyce and Brendan Irvine are through to the last-four.
But Ceire Smith, Christina Desmond and Darren O’Neill bowed out.
Taylor comfortably beat Denmark’s Yvonne Rasmussen on a unanimous decision, with one judge handing her a 10-8 round in a 40-36,40-36, 40-35 win.
Joyce was involved in a fiery battle with Vazgen Sufaryants before posting a 30-26,29-28.29-28 victory, and Irvine won the first round against Elie Konki, lost the second and won the third to register a split verdict over the French lightweight.
Smith was desperatly unlucky to lose on a split after it went back to the judges a second time after her tie with Tetyna Kob finished level on two cards, the third marked it to the Cavan BC flyweight, while Desmond produced a big performance versus Hungary’s former World Youth champion Petra Scatmari, who bounced back to win on a unanimous after the Cork southpaw claimed the first round.
London 2012 Olympian Darren O’Neill took the first frame on all cards against Abdulkadir Abdullayev in a big-hitting heavyweight duel, but the Azeri No. 1 seed claimed the second across the board and two of the three judges went with him in the third.
Tomorrow is a rest day at the 39-nation tournament. Taylor, Joyce and Irvine are in action Friday afternoon (Irish time).
If any of the three win they’ll join Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, Steven Donnelly and Joe Ward, who all qualified last year, on the plane to Rio 2016.
The top two women (the finalists) and the top three men (the finalists and winners of box-offs between the beaten semi-finalists) qualify for Rio.
*If Irvine wins on Friday he could end up meeting Muhammad Ali in the finals. The British flyweight with the iconic boxing name is in action in the corresponding 52kg semi-final with Daniel Asenov of Bulgaria).*
European Olympic Qualifiers Samsun, Turkey
April 9th
Preliminaries
64kg Dean Walsh (Ireland) beat Erik Agataljan (Czech Republic) 3-0
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Ireland) beat Simen Nysater (Norway) 3-0
April 11th
Last 16
51kg Ceire Smith (Ireland) beat Virginia Barankas (Hungary) 3-0
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) beat Hamza Touba (Germany) 3-0
64kg Dean Walsh (Ireland) lost to Lorenzo Sotomayor (Azerbaijan) 1-2
60kg Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Martina Schmoranzova (Czech Republic) 3-0
75kg Christina Desmond (Ireland) beat Nouchka Fontijan (Netherlands) 2-0
91kg+ Dean Gardiner (Ireland) lost to Mahammadrausl Majidor (Azerbaijan) 0-3
April 12th
Last 16
60kg David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) beat Otar Eranosyan (Georgia) 3-0
75kg Michael O’Reilly (Ireland) lost to Ilari Kijala (Finland) 0-3
91kg Darren O’Neill (Ireland) beat Gabriel Richards (Sweden) TKO1
April 13th
Q/Finals
51kg Ceire Smith (Ireland) lost to Tetyna Kob (Ukraine) 1-2
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) beat Ellie Konki (France) 2-1
60kg Katie Taylor (Ireland) beat Yvonne Rasmussen (Denmark) 3-0
60kg David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) beat Vazgen Sufaryants (Belarus) 3-0
75kg Christina Desmond (Ireland) lost to Petra Scatmari (Hungary) 0-3
91kg Darren O’Neill (Ireland) lost to Abdulkadir Abdullayev (Azerbaijan) 1-2
April 15th
S/Finals
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) v Narek Abgaryan (Armenia)
52kg Muhammad Ali (Great Britain) v Daniel Asenov (Bulgaria)
60kg Katie Taylor (Ireland) v Yana Alexseevna (Azerbaijan)
60kg Svetlana Staneva (Bulgaria) v Irma Tessa (Italy)
60kg David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) v Joe Cordina (Great Britain)
60kg Sofiane Oumiha (France) v Volkan Gokcek (Turkey)
Irish squad
Female
51kg Ceire Smith (Cavan)
60kg Katie Taylor (Bray)
75kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgans)
Male
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Pauls)
60kg David Oliver Joyce (AIBA Pro Boxing)
64kg Dean Walsh (St Joesphs/St Ibars)
75kg Michael O’Reilly (Portlaoise)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Paulstown)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel)
Team manager: Joe Hennigan
Coaches: Zaur Antia, Eddie Bolger, John Conlan
Physiotherapist: Julianne Ryan
Sports Psychologist: Gerry Hussey
Doctor: Jim Clover
Performance Analyst: Alan Swanton
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