GB Boxing

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Thoughts on the team announcement:

 

Savannah Stubley - Gets the nod over Demi-Jade Resztan for the 50Kg.  Stubley got to the semi-final in Colorado before losing out to  Monique Suraci whereas Resztan lost her first bout. Stubley also competed in Busto-Arsizio but lost her first fight. Hopefully she can make more of a fight of it in Bangkok and be in the mix for one of the four quotas available.

 

Elise Glynn - No surprise in the 57Kg - Glynn got to the quarter-finals in Busto-Arsizio and recently won the USA Boxing International Invitational in Colorado where she beat Paris bound  Jucielen Romeu in the final. The qualifying conditions in Bangkok should be easier as there are 4 quotas available compared to the two that were on offer in Italy. 

 

Amy Broadhurst - Possibly the most controversial selection in the squad. Broadhurst gets the nod over both Shona Whitwell and Gemma Richardson for the 60Kg. Whitwell has had 2 opportunities to get to Paris and has lost in her opening bout both times. She competed in Colorado earlier this month and lost in the first round so it was always going to be difficult to justify selecting her for a third time. Gemma Richardson could feel a little hard done by - she got to the final in Colorado before losing to  Yang Wen Lu. It's a bold decision by the selectors and I hope it works out for them. 

 

Kiaran Macdonald - No surprise in the 51Kg class. Macdonald got to the quota fight in Italy and came up short against  Bibossinov. He should go into the 2nd qualifier as one of the favourites to get a quota if he can get a decent draw. 

 

Owain Harris-Allan - Like Kieran Macdonald, Harris-Allan got to the quota fight in the 57Kg class in Busto-Arsizio. He got to the final in Colorado where he came up short against  Luiz Oliveira - the same fighter who defeated him in the quota match in Italy. 

 

Patris Mughalzai - He gets the nod over Reese Lynch in the 63.5Kg class. Mughalzai gets a second chance to book his spot in Paris after reaching the round of 32 in Busto-Arsizio. It's disappointing for Lynch who was making strong comeback after injury at last year's European Games but perhaps not surprising giving the pair fought in the semi-final of the Colorado event earlier this month.

 

Lewis Richardson - Selectors have kept the faith with Richardson who is picked ahead of Harris Akbar at 71Kg. Richardson fought in Italy but his campaign didn't last long as he was beaten in the first round by  Dev Nishant. Hopefully he can get a more favourable draw in Bangkok so that he has a chance to grow into the tournament. 

 

Ramtin Musah - This is probably the most surprising selection as Musah is picked over Taylor Bevan for the 80Kg class. OK so Bevan lost in the first round in Busto-Arsizio but in Colorado, he got to the semi-finals whereas Musah lost in the first round. 

 

Overall then I think we're sending a pretty strong squad and I can see us getting 3-5 quotas if we can get decent draws. 

 

 

[Olympicsnell 332]

2 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Thoughts on the team announcement:

 

Savannah Stubley - Gets the nod over Demi-Jade Resztan for the 50Kg.  Stubley got to the semi-final in Colorado before losing out to  Monique Suraci whereas Resztan lost her first bout. Stubley also competed in Busto-Arsizio but lost her first fight. Hopefully she can make more of a fight of it in Bangkok and be in the mix for one of the four quotas available.

 

Elise Glynn - No surprise in the 57Kg - Glynn got to the quarter-finals in Busto-Arsizio and recently won the USA Boxing International Invitational in Colorado where she beat Paris bound  Jucielen Romeu in the final. The qualifying conditions in Bangkok should be easier as there are 4 quotas available compared to the two that were on offer in Italy. 

 

Amy Broadhurst - Possibly the most controversial selection in the squad. Broadhurst gets the nod over both Shona Whitwell and Gemma Richardson for the 60Kg. Whitwell has had 2 opportunities to get to Paris and has lost in her opening bout both times. She competed in Colorado earlier this month and lost in the first round so it was always going to be difficult to justify selecting her for a third time. Gemma Richardson could feel a little hard done by - she got to the final in Colorado before losing to  Yang Wen Lu. It's a bold decision by the selectors and I hope it works out for them. 

 

Kiaran Macdonald - No surprise in the 51Kg class. Macdonald got to the quota fight in Italy and came up short against  Bibossinov. He should go into the 2nd qualifier as one of the favourites to get a quota if he can get a decent draw. 

 

Owain Harris-Allan - Like Kieran Macdonald, Harris-Allan got to the quota fight in the 57Kg class in Busto-Arsizio. He got to the final in Colorado where he came up short against  Luiz Oliveira - the same fighter who defeated him in the quota match in Italy. 

 

Patris Mughalzai - He gets the nod over Reese Lynch in the 63.5Kg class. Mughalzai gets a second chance to book his spot in Paris after reaching the round of 32 in Busto-Arsizio. It's disappointing for Lynch who was making strong comeback after injury at last year's European Games but perhaps not surprising giving the pair fought in the semi-final of the Colorado event earlier this month.

 

Lewis Richardson - Selectors have kept the faith with Richardson who is picked ahead of Harris Akbar at 71Kg. Richardson fought in Italy but his campaign didn't last long as he was beaten in the first round by  Dev Nishant. Hopefully he can get a more favourable draw in Bangkok so that he has a chance to grow into the tournament. 

 

Ramtin Musah - This is probably the most surprising selection as Musah is picked over Taylor Bevan for the 80Kg class. OK so Bevan lost in the first round in Busto-Arsizio but in Colorado, he got to the semi-finals whereas Musah lost in the first round. 

 

Overall then I think we're sending a pretty strong squad and I can see us getting 3-5 quotas if we can get decent draws. 

 

 

The whole way through i was going to ask how many you thought we could get, and then boom, got in their first anyways. More the merrier, i'd honestly be happiest seeing Kiaran and Owain as they came so close last time, and anything less than qualification from amy will have GB boxing with questions to answer, looks like that had to close comments on thier team selection post as the families of the British boxers were up in arms, as you say whitwell had more than enough opportunity to qualify, i dont think they can have any complaints personally. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

9 hours ago, Olympicsnell said:

The whole way through i was going to ask how many you thought we could get, and then boom, got in their first anyways. More the merrier, i'd honestly be happiest seeing Kiaran and Owain as they came so close last time, and anything less than qualification from amy will have GB boxing with questions to answer, looks like that had to close comments on thier team selection post as the families of the British boxers were up in arms, as you say whitwell had more than enough opportunity to qualify, i dont think they can have any complaints personally. 

The comments on Facebook and Twitter have certainly been....salty to say the least. 

 

I knew Broadhurst had travelled with the squad to Colorado for the training camp, but I wasn't aware that she was due to compete there and hadn't been able to make the weight - assuming the comments online are correct.  

[Epic Failure 359]

Purely on past pedigree and the like, it is probably the right choice for a selector to make, especially given how important medals are to future funding. But obviously the optics etc are not good.

[Orangehair43 285]

10 hours ago, Epic Failure said:

Purely on past pedigree and the like, it is probably the right choice for a selector to make, especially given how important medals are to future funding. But obviously the optics etc are not good.

Builds up the issue until lost games when if medals are not reached they will be a lot of pressure on the current leadership to stand down. 

[Epic Failure 359]

5 hours ago, Orangehair43 said:

Builds up the issue until lost games when if medals are not reached they will be a lot of pressure on the current leadership to stand down. 

Eh. I think that if medals are not reached that pressure would exist anyway. GBR have won at least 3 medals at each of the last 4 Games in Boxing. If they don't match that I'm sure the pressure will be intense.

[Orangehair43 285]

3 hours ago, Epic Failure said:

Eh. I think that if medals are not reached that pressure would exist anyway. GBR have won at least 3 medals at each of the last 4 Games in Boxing. If they don't match that I'm sure the pressure will be intense.

No medals and funding will go completely. 

[Epic Failure 359]

4 hours ago, Orangehair43 said:

No medals and funding will go completely. 

I would very much doubt that. Cuts, sure. But I can't see a situation where Boxing goes from its current level of funding to zero.

 

 

[mpjmcevoy 375]

4 hours ago, Orangehair43 said:

No medals and funding will go completely. 

Not a snowballs chance of that. Funding is forward looking, and a program that has consistently provided medals is not going to be starved for one poor showing - e.g. Se Rowing which had a dreadful time in tokyo, or Swimming in 2012. Funding was cut, a bit, but not a chance it would go completely or even close. At absolute worst there would be a review of the cycle - I mean, come on, have people forgotten when GB sent ONE BOXER to the Games?

[Epic Failure 359]

Yup. We're talking about the 9th highest funded sport currently, our 4th most successful sport in Tokyo, and GBR's 6th most successful sport in terms of total medals won at all Olympics. It's just not remotely feasible that it would go from where it is down to nothing.