IT’S just a month since Amy Broadhurst left the ring in tears at the National Stadium - but the Dundalk woman continued her rebuild in impressive style at the Strandja invitational tournament in Sofia.
In just her fifth outing at the new 66kg weight class, Broadhurst produced a confident, composed display to claim a unanimous decision win over Canada’s Charlie Cavanagh, securing her spot in Saturday’s semi-finals.
The 25-year-old meets China’s Liu Yang in the first session of the day, which gets under way at 11am.
It offers another opportunity for Broadhurst to build into welterweight, having swept the boards at 63kg last year, winning World, European and Commonwealth Games gold.
However, new Olympic weight classes were always going to leave Broadhurst with a difficult decision - either go down to the more natural 60kg, where Kellie Harrington would have represented a significant obstacle to Olympic ambitions, or move up to 66kg.
Offaly’s Grainne Walsh got the nod in a dramatic Irish elite final, leaving Broadhurst unsure what the immediate future held, with June’s European Games serving as the European leg of the Olympic qualification tournament.
However, with Walsh beaten by Poland’s Agneta Rygielska in Monday’s preliminary round – and Ireland boycotting next month’s World Championships in New Delhi - it opens the door for Broadhurst to strengthen her case.
With bronze already secured, she will have her eyes fully focused on going all the way to gold.
Olympic golden girl Harrington joins Broadhurst in semi-final action in Bulgaria on Saturday after stepping up to 63kg for this competition. She faces France’s Fatia Benmessahel.
Meanwhile, Irish team-mates Niamh Fay and Jennifer Lehane both bowed out of the bantamweight competition on Friday, while Dublin flyweight Sean Mari fell to a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan’s experienced Hasanboy Dusmatov – Olympic gold medallist at Rio 2016 and a 5-0 pro.
