duineeile

Aidan Walsh with a unanimous points victory over 🇵🇷 to qualify for his second Olympic Games. Probably lucky not to get a points deduction for holding and lack of engagement, thought he won rounds 1 and 3 but surprised that 3 of the judges gave him round 2. I think he needs to refine his style a bit for the Games as he's always running the risk of getting points deductions with his style

Jenny Lehane is going to Paris after a 5-0 quarter final win over Hanna Lakotar 🇭🇺, congratulations to her! So hard on boxers losing at this final stage, poor Lakotar looked devastated. Fingers crossed more Irish quotas will be added, Grainne Walsh up next

Looks like we were typing at the same time 😂

Good wins this morning for Jenny Lehane against 🇺🇦 at W54kg and Martin McDonagh at +92kg against 🇧🇬 to advance to quarter final quota bouts. Lehane faces 🇭🇺 next for a place in Paris while McDonagh faces a former World silver medallist from 🇦🇲

From watching a few of the bouts, the referees are giving far too many point deductions, and with the current scoring system it has a disproportionate effect on the outcome of the fight, they need to sort it out before Olympics

Hard to know what next move dor Amy Broadhurst is, obviously she can't come back to Ireland, she's ruffled a few feathers in GB Boxing, but does she stay with them now and plan her ultimate revenge for 2028? Pro is obviously an option, but how much money is there really in the women's game apart from for Katie Taylor and a select few others, especially now going into it without an Olympic medal or even appearance, not as attractive for promoters. I wasn't a fan of her switching to GB but on a human level you'd have to feel for her a bit too, obviously the Olympics was her childhood dream so she was prepared to explore all possible avenues to try make it happen and its ended up a bit of a mess for her really. I really hope Gráinne Walsh gets through, she seems a really nice person and looking at her results as a youth, she lost a lot at national level but has persevered with hard work to get to where she is now.

Aidan Walsh beaten 4-1, point deductions in both the 2nd and 3rd rounds ruining his chances after claiming the first on all 5 cards.

That's a disappointing result for Cassidy, as he could possibly have been our best medal hope on the mens side had he made it. Up against a World medallist today, he hasn't had much luck with draws and losing 3-2 split decisions in all three qualification tournaments

Thanks for sending on the link, was a good fight and a contrast of very different styles, Zakhariev very go forward and aggressive and Walsh the typical counter-puncher. Round 1 was very clearly for Zakhariev and I think Round 3 was clearly to Walsh, Round 2 was quite close I thought and could have went either way, with such a subjective scoring system it may come down to some judges having an inherent preference for certain styles of fighting. It was a close fight that could have went either way but in my opinion certainly not a robbery. Of course its hard for any of us to watch these fights in a truly non-biased way, myself included, as we definitely see more of our own fighters shots landing than the other way round, but I tried to watch as objectively as possible. Very disappointing for Zakhariev and the Ukraine team of course, there's so much at stake at these qualifiers, can make or break careers.

Considering almost every close 3-2 decision at the last qualification tournament went against Irish fighters, that's a pretty ridiculous statement. And Rio 2016 our fighters were on the end of a lot of robberies too, and there's been plenty more over the years. I didn't see the Walsh Zakhariev fight so I can't comment on that fight specifically, but being upset because your fighter lost a bout which you feel they should have won is no reason to make blanket, inaccurate statements. Boxing judging has always been a source of contention given how subjective it is, personally I feel the scoring system for London 2012 was the best I can remember and I wish they had stuck with that.

Aidan Walsh does the business against 🇺🇦 to progress to the quarter finals, one fight away from an Olympic quota. There's 5 quotas available at 71kg so I presume box-offs between the losing quarter finalists to determine the last Olympic place

Unanimous decision win for Gráinne Walsh against North Korean fighter, progresses to the last 16, 2 wins away from Paris. 9 wins from 9 for Ireland so far at these qualifiers, hopefully Aidan Walsh can make it 10 from 10 later.

4-1 last 32 victories at the Final Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Bangkok yesterday for Aidan Walsh (71kg) against 🇩🇿 and for Jennifer Lehane (54kg) against 🇵🇷. Walsh faces 2021 World Champion from 🇺🇦 today in a very tough last 16 bout while Lehane is also up against 🇺🇦 on Saturday in the last 16. Martin McDonagh had an RSC1 victory in his last 32 bout against 🇻🇳 this morning, I think he could be a real dark horse for qualification, only edged out on 3-2 split decision at last tournament in Italy against Latypov, a Russian fighting for 🇧🇭, and may well face the same opponent in the quarter finals if he wins his next bout. Along with Aidan Walsh, Gráinne Walsh is in action today in her 66kg Round of 32 against a potentially very tricky opponent from 🇰🇵, really hope she pulls through

Good win for Kelyn Cassidy in the light heavy round of 32 at the Olympic qualifiers in Bangkok, RSC win in round 3 against 🇮🇳 Regards the rowing, the fact that Italy beat Switzerland gives me a little more confidence as it may mean the Irish lads are just a bit behind where they could be and building their way into the season, and that Switzerland are not necessarily an unstoppable and ever improving crew. I know Italy changed up one of their crew members last year too with Soares coming in for Ruta, but I still fancy the Irish lads to win gold in Paris.

It's disappointing as it appears the mens pair is an event where, despite medalling at most recent World Championship, we are now out of medal contention for in Paris. Good bronze medal for Keogh and Murtagh but it appears they haven't closed the gap on Dutch and Aussies from last years worlds and Romania are not racing at this regatta. With Doyle and Lynch having a disrupted season, prospects not great for men's double either, hopefully the women's double can push into medal contention, today will tell a lot. And with lightweight double having serious competition, we might have to revise our rowing expectations for Paris.

Strong results in the rowing semis in Lucerne, with women's Pair and women's double sculls winning their semis, mens pair and womens lightweight double making their finals. O'Donovan/McCarthy worryingly beaten by the Swiss, as I've suspected since the Swiss cake on the scene last year, the Irish lads will have a real fight on their hands to retain gold in Paris. Start of their season slightly disrupted by missing Europeans and World Cup I (O'Donovan competed in the heavyweight single) so hopefully they can find their inner Corkness and power on as the season goes on, a chance to turn the tables in the final tomorrow. At the boxing Olympic qualifier, wins for Sean Mari (51kg) on a split against 🇵🇰 and light-heavy Kelyn Cassidy against 🇩🇪, both progress to round of 32, still a long road to qualification and only 3 spots up for grabs in Cassidy's division. At the swimming trials, Shane Ryan hit the OCT for the 100m freestyle this morning, needs to find another 0.21 to get the Olympic Selection Tine. Danielle Hill first Irish woman under 25 seconds for 50m freestyle in 24.95, 0.25 off OST, hopefully one or both can hit those times later.

The Swiss men's lightweight double looks the real deal, O'Donovan and McCarthy will have their work cut out this year to retain their gold medal.

Yeah thats true, we definitely have a lot more in with a shout of medals than before which on a curve over time should increase medals won. Even last Olympics we were unlucky in a number of events (Natalya Coyle getting a donkey, Rhys slipping in the pommel final, Rory losing on play-off, first show-jumpers horse losing a shoe in team event and Cian O'Connor with a single time penalty if I remember, Sanita becoming ill) and still came out with 4 medals which in previous games would have been a great haul for Ireland. I think we have a lot of exciting prospects, just don't want to get too carried away with expectations as I've suffered too much heartbreak watching Olympics over the years. Thankfully we are long past the days when we were basically depending on Sonia. Would be class if we could get an early medal for a change to really kick-start some momentum as it definitely feeds through teams

I'm starting to get worried regards our boxers to be honest, the performances at what is ultimately a poor quality European Championships by many of our already qualified boxers have been poor. Jack Marley beaten by a Belgian fighter (!), Michael Walsh beaten in first round, Dean Clancy unable to get among medals and Harrington beaten after struggling in quarter final. O'Rourke only one that seems to be performing and seems best medal prospect for Paris. The last qualification tournament was pretty poor too with only one qualifier, and not confident we'll do much better at the next one, especially with it being on away ground in Asia. I think Jude Gallagher is a definite medal prospect but its a very tough division and a lot depends on draw and judging. Not overly confident about the rowing situation either, seems a lot of disruption due to injury/illness. Women's Pair only boat that really seemed to perform well at first World Cup regatta, mens double sculls did OK but will need to push on to threaten medals. I feel the lightweight double will be tested a lot more this year than before, the Swiss were an emerging crew last year and will be better this year too. I think talk of 7 medals is fanciful at best, difficult to see where the medals will come from in other sports, of course Daniel Wiffen will be in the mix, and Rhys McClenaghan, but like Tokyo it only takes a split second for it all to go wrong. Showjumping and golf are completely on the day sports, and generally Ireland are not blessed with luck in the Olympics. I think we need to temper expectations a bit to be honest. Obviously I'd love if we went out and won 10 medals but I've been following Ireland in Olympics for too long to allow expectations build too much. If we win 4-5 medals I think its a successful Games for us.

Ah yeah was thinking it must be something like that! Makes sense

Why don't Ireland ever enter the European qualification regatta? Is it a case of 'If they can't do it via final qualifier then they're not good enough?'

If she does end up going to Paris with GB and beating Kellie Harrington, questions will be asked of the IABA allowing it

I suppose she will turn pro as 4 years is a long time to wait with no guarantees, even if she is Irish no. 1 something as simple as a hand injury in training could ruin it all again. Then factor in that she has only so many years to make money so she needs to make hay while the sun shines. If she does get the switch to Team GB and meals in Paris it could significantly up her earning potential in the pro ranks, Eddie Hearn would be all over her like a rash. I feel very bad for her and kind of understand what she's doing but I would tend to agree with Dodge in that I wouldn't like to see her selected for GB, especially if she ended up with the potential to scupper Irish medal chances.

The time frame does seem incredibly short so hard to see how it could credibly happen but stranger things have happened. Didn't Tyson Fury attempt a similar allegiance switch circa 2008 only for the Irish clubs to kick up a fuss and block it? Pity in a way as we had no real contenders at heavyweight back then ourselves. If she does get the nod and then qualify I think its inevitable really that she'll meet Harrington, most likely in the quarter final. I've been following Ireland at Olympics long enough to know that we get a lot of bad luck which often borders on the bizarre.

Looks like Amy Broadhurst attempting to switch to Team GB for final qualifier to try qualify at 60kg, would this be allowed, is there not usually a sit-out period of a couple of years in most sports? Imagine Walsh doesn't qualify at 66kg and Broadhurst knocks Harrington out in Paris, would really be egg on the face for the Irish team