McCormack advances to last 16 at Olympics
Wearside boxer Luke McCormack has advanced into the last 16 of the men’s flyweight division at the Olympics in Tokyo.
The 26-year-old Washington-born fighter defeated Manish Kaushik 4-1 to move into the next round of 57kg division. The Brit clinched the match following a dominant third round, having received some fierce competition from his opponent in the opening two rounds.
Luke McCormack, who is at the Olympics alongside his twin brother Pat McCormack, will now face the tricky Andy Cruz.
The Cuban amateur will present a massive challenge to McCormack and boasts two gold medals at the Pan American Games, as well as two gold medals in the AIBA World Championships.
The bout will take place next Saturday (July 31) at around 10am UK time.
In his first contest at the Tokyo Olympics, Pat McCormack faces Aliaksandr Radzionau, 21, from Belarus in the last 16 of the men’s welterweight division on Tuesday (July 27).
*Chelsie Giles collected Great Britain’s first medal of the Tokyo Olympics when winning bronze in the country where judo was founded.
The Coventry judoka overcame Macedonia’s Arbresha Rexhepi and Morocco’s Soumiya Iraoui in the women’s -52kg category before losing to home favourite and eventual gold medallist Uta Abe at the quarter-final stage.
But the repechage offered the 24-year-old an alternative route to a podium place and she duly grasped the chance, defeating Belgium’s Charline van Snick and then Switzerland’s Fabienne Kocher by Ippon at the Nippon Budokan.