It was a bittersweet few days for Irish boxing at the European Olympic qualifiers in Samsun, Turkey.
Three bronze medals and two Olympic places were secured, including David Oliver Joyce finally getting to the Olympics after missing out on the 2008 & 2012 games, but the big story was Ireland's Katie Taylor losing in the semi-finals.
The Olympic champion was beaten via unanimous decision 39-37 on all judges scorecards by Azerbaijan’s Yana Alexseevna in the lightweight semi-finals. Taylor then beat Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva in a box-off for third place to get a bronze medal but still misses out on Olympic qualification.
Taylor will get one final opportunity to qualify for August’s Olympics at the World Women’s Championships in Kazakhstan next month.
Brendan Irvine (picture top in red, image via IABA.ie) came from behind to beat Bulgaria’s Daniel Asenov and David Oliver Joyce defeated Turkey’s Volkan Gokcek via split decision. Both won bronze and qualified for the Rio Olympics.
Elsewhere at the qualifiers Ceire Smith, Christina Desmond and Darren O’Neill bowed out in the quarter finals.
