LAST UPDATE | 5 Jun 2021
KELLIE HARRINGTON BOOKED her place at the Tokyo Olympics this evening with a stunning victory against Maiva Hamadouche in the quarter finals of this week’s Olympic qualifiers in France.
Hamadouche was the hometown favourite and considered a daunting opponent, as she holds the distinction of competing as the reigning IBF super featherweight world champion, secured in a professional career that currently reads 22-1.
Harrington, however, secured a stunning unanimous victory, with all five judges scoring the fight in the Dubliner’s favour: 29-26, 29-28, 29-27, 29-28, 29-28.
Hamadouche, who won silver at the 2019 European Championships (which Harrington missed with injury) can yet salvage a place in Tokyo in a box-off.
Harrington will be joined in Tokyo by Roscommon’s Aoife O’Rourke, who came from behind to win her fight with Poland’s Elzbieta Wojik.
Wojik was the division’s fourth seed and took the first round, but O’Rourke battled back to take rounds two and three to progress to the Games. She is the fourth Irish boxer to confirm a place in Tokyo, following Harrington, Kurt Walker, and Brendan Irvine.
Michaela Walsh is also likely to make the Games by virtue of her world ranking.
Emmett Brennan fights Luka Plantic of Croatia later this evening for a chance to travel to Tokyo too, while George Bates missed out on a place following a split decision loss to Javid Chalabiyev of Azerbaijan.
