| |
Olympic Semi Finals
By Bernard O'Neil
(AUG 21) British middleweight James DeGale has acknowledged his losing run
against Ireland's Darren Sutherland - but insists that it'll be different
this time.
DeGale, from the Dale ABC in Hammersmith London, and 26 year old
Sutherland,of the St Saviours Olympic Boxing
Academy (OBA) club in Dublin, clash in tomorrows (8am Irish time) 75Kg
Olympic semi final at the Workers Indoor Arena in Beijing.
The English man has lost four of his five meetings to Sutherland, including
two defeats (22-17 and 23-19) to the Dubliner in the 2007/08 European Union
middleweight finals at the National Stadium in Dublin and in Cetniewo,
Poland last June.
DeGale recorded his first win over Sutherland, a (23-22) verdict, in the
quarter finals at the second last Olympic qualifier for European boxers in
Pescara, Italy last February.
Both boxers are already guaranteed bronze at these Olympics - but 22 year
old DeGale told the BBC that he is hoping
to go all the way.
He said: "I know I've got a losing record but it'll be different this time.
I'm going to hit and move,not stay static, and combat him right with the
tactics. Hopefully now I can go on and win the gold."
Sutherland, Irish captain Ken Egan and Paddy Barnes will all be in semi
final action tomorrow, with light heavyweight Egan pencilled in to meet
another British boxer, Tony Jeffries at around 2pm - Barnes will be in the
ring against reigning World champion Shiming Zou at noon.
Egan,of the Neilstown club in Dublin, beat Sunderland born Jeffries in the
2008 European Union Championships 81Kg final on the same day that Sutherland
out-pointed DeGale.
The Irish skipper was 14-7 up when Jeffries, who boxes out of the Sunderland
BC, picked up a facial injury and was retired by his corner in the third
round.
Holy Family Belfast light flyweight Barnes qualified for the Olympics after
reaching the quarter finals of the World Championships in Chicago last
October where he was beaten (22-8) by Zou who went on to claim his second
World title on the trot.
Serdamba Purevdorju of Mongolia and Cuban Yampier G Hernandez go
head-to-head in the other 48Kg last four decider, while Zhang Xiaoping of
China and Shynaliyev Yerkebula of Kazakhstan contest the other 81Kg semi
final,
Cuban middleweight Emilio Correra or Kuma Vijender, who has the distinction
of winning India's first ever Olympic boxing medal courtesy of reaching the
semi finals in Beijing, will face either Sutherland or DeGale in the 75Kg
final on
Saturday.
The Irish squad had one training session at the Olympic village today. The
session mostly involved pad work and weigh management ahead of one of the
biggest days in the 97 year old history of the Irish Amateur Boxing
Association.
The boxing event at the 29th Olympiad will conclude with five finals on
Saturday and six finals on Sunday.
Ireland's Olympic Medal Winners
John McNally (Bantamweight): 1952 Helsinki (Silver)
Fred Tiedt (Welterweight): 1956 Melbourne (Silver)
Tony Byrne (Lightweight): 1956 Melbourne (Bronze)
Fred Gilroy (Bantamweight): 1956 Melbourne (Bronze)
John Caldwell (Flyweight): 1956 Melbourne (Bronze)
Jim McCourt (Lightweight): 1964 Tokyo (Bronze)
Hugh Russell (Flyweight): 1980 Moscow (Bronze)
Wayne McCullough (Bantamweight): 1992 Barcelona (Silver)
Michael Carruth (Welterweight): 1992 Barcelona (Gold)
Paddy Barnes (Light flyweight) 2008 Beijing (Barnes is guaranteed at least
bronze)
Ken Egan (Light heavyweight) 2008 Beijing (Egan is guaranteed at least
bronze)
Darren Sutherland (Middleweight) 2008 Beijing (Sutherland is guaranteed at
least bronze)Irish Olympic Results and Draw
(Scores at end of first three rounds in brackets)
Preliminary Saturday August 9th
81Kg: (Light heavyweight) Julius Jackson (Virgin Islands) lost to Ken Egan
(Ireland) (0-6,2-10,2-18) 2-22
Preliminary Sunday August 10th
64Kg: (Light welterweight) John Joe Joyce beat Gyula Kate (Hungary)
(3-2,5-4,8-4) 9-5
Preliminary Tuesday August 12th
54Kg: (Bantamweight) John Joe Nevin (Ireland) beat Abdelhalim Ourradi
(Algeria) (0-0,3-2,6-4) 9-4
Last 16 Thursday August 14th
64Kg: (Light welterweight) John Joe Joyce (Ireland) lost to Felix Diaz
(Dominican Rep) (1-5,4-7,9-7) 11-11 (C/B) 24-26
81Kg: (Light heavyweight) Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Muzafer Bahram (Turkey)
(2-1,5-1,9-2) 10-2
Last 16 Friday August 14th
54Kg: (Bantamweight) John Joe Nevin (Ireland) lost to Badar - Uugan Enkhbat
(Mongolia) (0-1,1-4,1-7) 2-9
Last 16 Saturday August 16th
48Kg: (Light flyweight) Paddy Barnes (Ireland) beat Jose Luis Meza (Ecuador)
(19.00pm) (2-3,6-3,9-6) 14-8
75Kg: (Middleweight) Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Nabil Kassel (Algeria)
(4-4,9-10,14-13) RSC4
(Sutherland 21-14 up when bout was stopped) RSC = Ref Stops Contest
Quarter Finals Tuesday August 19th
48Kg (Light flyweight) Paddy Barnes (Ireland) beat Lukasz Maszczyk (Poland)
(2-2,7-5,9-5) 11-5
81Kg: (Light heavyweight) Ken Egan (Ireland) beat Washington Silva (Brazil)
(3-0,3-0,7-0) 8-0
Quarter Final Wednesday August 20th
75Kg: (Middleweight) Darren Sutherland (Ireland) beat Alfonso Blanco Parra
(Venezuela) (3-0,6-1,9-1) 11-1
Semi Finals Friday August 22nd
75Kg: Darren Sutherland (Ireland) v James DeGale (Great Britain) (15.01pm)
48Kg: (Light flyweight) Paddy Barnes (Ireland) v Shiming Zou (China) (19
00pm)
81Kg: Ken Egan (Ireland) v Tony Jeffries (Great Britain) (21.01pm)
(Beijing (+ seven hours Ireland) times apply above)
Irish Olympic Squad, Management and Officials
81Kg:Light heavyweight: Ken Egan (Neilstown Dublin) Captain
75Kg:Middleweight: Darren Sutherland (St Saviours OBA Dublin)
64Kg:Light welterweight: John Joe Joyce (St Michael's Athy)
54Kg:Bantamweight: John Joe Nevin (Cavan BC)
48Kg:Light flyweight: Paddy Barnes (Holy Family Belfast)
High Performance Director: Gary Keegan
Team Manager: Jim Walsh
Coaches: Billy Walsh & Zuar Antia
Strength & Conditioning: John Cleary
Performance Psychologist: Gerry Hussey
IABA President: Dominic O'Rourke
IABA Vice President: Tommy Murphy
National Registrar: Stephen Connolly |
|
