KELLIE Harrington’s hopes of defending her Olympic crown got off to a steady start at the European Games on Friday afternoon – but there was disappointment for Tyrone’s Jude Gallagher, who was edged out by a classy Cuban boxing for Bulgaria.
Javier Ibanez Diaz was a 2014 Youth Olympic gold medallist for Cuba, and began the tournament among the favourites to secure one of the four featherweight spots up for grabs at Paris 2024.
It was unfortunate that Gallagher had to meet Diaz at such an early stage in Poland, though it was the Commonwealth Games gold medallist who settled first in Friday’s round of 32 clash, taking the opening round on all five judges’ scorecards.
But the Newtownstewart man couldn’t sustain the intensity, with Diaz’s clever defence and sharp punch-picking – particularly a couple of short left uppercuts – catching the eye as he claimed the second round, and then a third that could have either way en route to a 4-1 split decision victory.
Gallagher’s Olympic hopes are far from floored yet, though he will have to earn the right to be selected for next year’s World qualification tournament, with the Irish Elite Championships expected to take place in September and no shortage of domestic competition at 57kg.
Harrington was the first of the 12-strong Irish team into the ring on the opening day of action, claiming a 4-1 split against Miroslava Jedinakova to set up a last 16 showdown with Armenia’s Elida Kocharyan on Monday afternoon.
The 33-year-old Dubliner, lightweight champion at the delayed Tokyo Olympics two years ago, took a while to warm into her bout with Jedinakova, the tall Slovak using her long levers to decent effect in a cagey first round.
Harrington upped the work-rate in the second, though she was still finding her opponent tough to pin down, but in the third she showed her class to finally find some gaps in Jedinakova’s defence.
With the top four securing Olympic qualification at 60kg, two more wins would do the job for Harrington.
Dean Clancy also got off to a winning start, the Sligo lightweight’s clever movement bamboozling Austria’s Arsen Chabyan on the way to a unanimous decision win. It gets tougher from here though, with Azerbaijan’s Malek Hasanov up next on Sunday afternoon.
Commonwealth Games gold medallists Amy Broadhurst and Michaela Walsh enter the fray on Saturday, with Tokyo Olympian Walsh facing Olga Pavlina Papadatou (Greece) in the afternoon session. The winner will take on Turkey’s Aysin Tasken in the last 16 on Tuesday.
Broadhurst, meanwhile, faces a tough opener against Serbia’s Milena Matovic at 66kg in the evening session, while bantam Jennifer Lehane is also up against Serbian opposition in Sara Cirkovic.
Waterford’s Kelyn Cassidy makes his European Games bow on Saturday afternoon, taking on Norway’s Mindaugas Gedminas.
