EUROPEAN U17 Championships – Three out of Three on Opening Day for Team Irelamnd.
A superb opening day for Team Ireland at the European U17 Championships in Budva, Montenegro, with a 100% win record.
Paddy Nevin has opened Team Ireland’s account in style. He boxed his 70kg Last 32 contest against Slovenia’s Aleks Vas and dominated throughout, forcing counts. Judges scored the bout 26:30; 26:30: 27:29; 26:30; 25:30, reflecting a point deduction for Vas. Paddy is next in action at Last 16 stage on Tuesday, when he’ll take on Armenia’s Bagrat Ghazaryan in the Afternoon Session.
Reigning European champ, Team Ireland’s Sean Kelly, has opened his 2026 U17 account with a bang. The 52kg gold medalist, now boxing at 54kg, took on Armenia’s Gagik Grigoryan in a Last 32 contest in Budva – and won every round on all score-cards. The bout was scored: 27:30; 27:30; 27:30; 26:30; 26:30. Sean is back in action on Tuesday. Sean, one of the team’s co-captains, contests his Last 16 bout in the Afternoon Session against Gardash Rahimov of Azerbaijan.
fChristy Joyce makes it three-from-three for Team Ireland on the opening day of the championships. He was in a Last 32 contest against Poland’s Ksawery Urbanski and left the 5-0 decision in his favour in no doubt. The final scores were: 26:30; 27:29; 27:29; 26:30; 26:30, reflecting a point deduction for Urbanski. Christy will box his Last 16 contest on Tuesday, against the winner of the meeting between Ukraine and Croatia.
The complete championship draw is available here
A record-breaking 473 boxers will contest the championships, of whom 158 are women and 315 are men. The 40 participating federations are: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine
Team Ireland is led and managed by Shirley Kenney of Curadh BC, and Gabe Cronnelly of Monivea. The team is coached by Ken Moore, St. Francis BC, Limerick; Damien Flood, Cabra BC, Dublin; Linda Morgan, Arklow BC, Wicklow and Gus Farrell, Monivea BC, Galway. Malachy Scott, Glengormley BC, Antrim, has been appointed R&J.
