BOXING Delight as three more Irish boxers qualify for Beijing Olympics

Three Gold's For Ireland
 
Newly qualified Irish 2008 Olympians, Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland and John Joe Joyce completed  an incredible week for Irish amateur boxing after claiming three gold medals in Athens, Greece this afternoon.
 
Irish captain Egan, Sutherland and Joyce qualified automatically for the 2008 Olympics courtesy of their semi final wins at the final Olympic qualifier for European boxers in the Greek capitol yesterday.
 
And the Beijing bound trio followed that up with three gold medals wins at the Olympic Centre of Nikaia today.
 
Light welterweight Joyce, of the Michael's Athy club,  finished on top of the podium after his opponent, Egidijus Kavaliauskas  of Lithuania, retired injured in the first round with the scores tied at 2-2.
 
And St Saviours Dublin middleweight Sutherland won gold after his opponent, Jean-Michael Raymond of France, retired in the second round. Sutherland was 8-2 up.
 
Swedish light heavyweight Kennedy Katende went the distance with Egan, but the Dubliner ensured the hat-trick after earning a 15-10 win.
 
The final placings for the nations competing in Athens will be decided shortly and Ireland looks set for at least a top two finish based on points awarded for victories.
 
Twenty five Olympic places will have been distributed once the semi final box-offs are completed later today.
 
Light flyweight Paddy Barnes and bantamweight John Joe Nevin qualified for the 2008 Olympics before Athens.
 
The Irish squad are due to arrive home via Dublin Airport at midnight on Sunday.
 
Olympic Qualifiers Athens Greece 
 
April 12th Finals Results
 
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) beat Egidijus Kavaliauskas (Lithuania) RET1
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Jean-Michael Raymond (France) RET2
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Kennedy Katende (Sweden) 15-10
 
RET = retired
 
April 11th Semi Final  Results
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) beat  Sipahi Harun (Germany) 27-12
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Victor Cotiujanschii (Moldova) RET3
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Gottlieb Weiss (Germany) 21-11
(Boxers winning their semi finals qualify automatically for the 2008 Olympics)
 
April 9th Results (Quarter Finals)
51Kg: Conor Ahern (Ireland) lost to  Bato - munko Vankeyeu (Belarus) 12-20
57Kg: David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) lost to Bashir Hassan (Sweden) 17-19
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) beat Gkevorgk Gkalstian (Greece) 18-18 C/B 41-37
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Zoran Mitrovic (Serbia) 38-17
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Daniel Kool (Holland) 13-4
 
C/B = Count back: If boxers are level at the end of four rounds, the best and worse score given to each contestant by the five judges is deducted. The boxer left with the most points from the remaining three judges is then declared the winner.
 
April 8th Results (Last Sixteen)
57Kg: David Oliver Joyce (Ireland) beat Theodoros Papazov (Greece) 30-10
60Kg: Ross Hickey (Ireland) lost to Romal Amanov (Azerbaijan) 6-23
64Kg: John Joe Joyce (Ireland) beat Zdenek Chladek (Czech Republic) 18-8
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Eneste Glodi (Norway) 27-7
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Allessandro Sinacore (Italy) 23-14
91Kg;Tom Sheahan (Ireland) lost to Tsolak Ananikyan (Armenia) RSC1
91+Kg: Cathal McMonagle (Ireland) lost to Yosef Abed Elghani (Israel) 4-12
 
April 7th Results (Preliminary)
51Kg: (Flyweight) Conor Ahern (Ireland) beat Salomo N'Tune (Sweden) 14-8
69Kg (Welterweight) Willie McLoughlin (Ireland) lost to Velibor Vidic (Bosnia) 11-13
75Kg: (Middleweight) Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Niko Jokinen (Finland) 5-0
 
Irish Squad and Management For AIBA Olympic Qualifiers Athens April 7th/12th
51Kg (Flyweight) Conor Ahern (Baldoyle, Dublin)
57Kg (Featherweight) David Oliver Joyce (St Michael's Athy, Kildare)
60Kg (Lightweight) Ross Hickey (Grangecon, Kildare) 
64Kg (Light welterweight) John Joe Joyce (St Michael's Athy,Kildare)
69Kg (Welterweight) Willie McLoughlin (Illies GG, Donegal)
75Kg (Middleweight) Darren Sutherland (St Saviours OBA, Dublin)
81Kg (Light heavyweight) Ken Egan (Neilstown, Dublin)
91Kg (Heavyweight) Tom Sheahan (St Michael's Athy,KIldare)
91+Kg (Super heavyweight) Cathal McMonagle (Holy Trinity, Belfast)

Support team:
IABA President, Dominic O'Rourke
High Performance Director, Gary Keegan
Team Manager, Jim Walsh
Coaches, Billy Walsh, Zuar Antia, Jim Moore
Physio, Scott Murphy
Sports Psychologist, Gerry Hussey
Referee & Judge (R&J) Sadie Duffy

For more info:
www.aiba.org