WORRYING IS NOT THE DUNNE THING
Bernard bullish about chances of the Fighting Irish after draw
BERNARD DUNNE insists Ireland’s boxers are “happy where we are” after getting some good and bad luck in the Olympics draw.
Aidan Walsh will join his sister Michaela and Kellie Harrington in the last 16 after in Tokyo.
As seeds, featherweight Michaela Walsh and lightweight Harrington already knew they were getting byes.
But it is a big break for Aidan Walsh to also get a second round draw in the 69kg category, where he will meet Albert Mengue of Cameroon or Thabiso Dlamini of Swaziland.
It means that all three are two wins away from winning a medal, and that Lisburn’s Kurt Walker (57kg) will be the only Irish boxer to compete tomorrow, when the boxing starts (3.05am Irish time).
Walker will face a Spanish opponent, Jose Quiles.
Others – like Aoife O’rourke, who was a strong medal hope coming to the Far East, have received tough draws.
IABA’S performance director Dunne said: “There is no easy draw at an Olympic Games.
“Everybody has fought hard to get their Olympic spot, worked hard to be here and we’ve just got to perform.
“We’ve worked really hard as a team, as a unit, to qualify seven, which is a fantastic number to have. Our guys are ready, we just want the competition to start at this stage.”
Michaela Walsh will face a Russian opponent before probably coming up against the
Italian Irma Testa, who beat her at the recent European Olympic qualifiers in the gold medal fight.
O’rourke (75kg) faces a stiff test against the fourth seed from China, Qian Li, a 31-year-old world champion three years ago and a Rio bronze medallist.
Light heavyweight Emmet Brennan was the final Irish boxer to qualify for the Games and his first round task is an uphill one.
The Dub meets Dilshod Ruzemtov, the 2019 World silver
medallist from Uzbekistan.
Fellow Dubliner Harrington and team captain Brendan Irvine will give the boxers a boost as Ireland’s flag bearers in the Opening Ceremony, which takes place today (12pm Irish time).
“It’s fantastic, as a team we’re very proud of them and it’s well-deserved,” said Dunne.
“Brendan has had a tough time getting ready for the Olympics.
“He hadn’t really boxed for two years, he had a number of
injuries and the resilience he has shown has been incredible, and to qualify from the first real competitive tournament we had back was really amazing.”
Irvine (52kg) will meet Carlo Paalam from the Philippines in his first round bout. Paalam is an Asian championship bronze medallist.
Ex-world champ Harrington will start her bid against either Italian Rebecca Nicoli or Esmerelda Falcon Reyes of Mexico on Friday week.
“Kellie has been a consistent performer on the international stage and she has really grown into a world-class performance athlete,” said Dunne.
“It’s a great moment, they’ll enjoy it but as soon as it’s done it will be parked and they’ll be refocusing again on what the challenge is. Seeding is one thing but she still has to go out and perform and Kellie knows that.
“All of our team are taking it day by day. We’ve moved to a very narrow focus on performance and being very specific on what we do.
“Now we can be even more specific. We have sight of who we’re going in against.
“They’re all dangerous. Everybody wants to win. Nobody’s going in there thinking they’re going to lose.
“That’s the beauty of boxing. We’ve just got to focus on what we can control and what our strengths are and try to implement them in a fight.”