LAST UPDATE | 27 Jun 2023
DAINA MOOREHOUSE AND Michaela Walsh are both just one fight away from claiming a medal at the European Games and in the process, securing qualification for next summer’s Paris Olympics following their round of 16 fights in Poland today.
Aoife O’Rourke was also victorious, but is two wins away from Olympic qualification.
Moorhouse was awarded a straight decision (4-1) victory over Tetiana Kob of the Ukraine in her flyweight (50kg) fight, before Walsh claimed a unanimous decision (5-0) against Turkey’s Aysen Taskin in their featherweight (57kg) bout.
Moorehouse, of Wicklow/Enniskerry BC, is a two-time European champion and three-time Irish Senior champion.
Following a fast start, Moorehouse finished strongly to claim an impressive win against veteran fighter Kob, the reigning European champion at flyweight and a five-time major international medallist.
Commonwealth champion Walsh, 30, then powered past Taskin.
A seven-time major international medal winner overall and silver medallist at the last European Games in 2019, the Belfast/Monkstown ABC fighter proved too strong for her Turkish opponent as she advanced to the quarter-finals and took another step toward qualifying for a second Olympic Games.
O’Rourke was the final Irish fighter in the ring today, overcoming the highly-rated Cindy Ngamba — who was fighting under the refugee flag — in their middleweight (75kg) bout to reach the quarter-finals.
O’Rourke, 25, of Roscommon/Olympic Boxing Club (Galway) produced a battling comeback, losing the first but coming out with a split decision win.
Ngamba, a three-time English champion at light-middleweight, moved up from 70kg to compete in O’Rourke’s division this week.
A two-time European champion at middle, O’Rourke must reach the final in order to qualify for Paris 2024. She is one win away from a medal.
Elsewhere at the European Games today, Modern Pentathlete Sive Brassil fell short in her bid to make the final, finishing her semi-final in 15th place; Derry’s Erin McConnell placed 27th in the Women’s Individual Triathlon in challenging conditions; Giacomo Patrick Pietrobelli (Fencing) and Emma Davis (Archery) bowed out of their respective competitions.
There were mixed fortunes in Badminton group stages: The Mixed Doubles pairing of Joshua Magee and Moya Ryan comfortably defeated Slovakia, while Rachel Darragh overcame Serbia’s Marija Sudimac. But Joshua Magee and Paul Reynolds, and Kate Frost and Moya Ryan, were beaten by Great Britain and Sweden in their respective Doubles clashes.
