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Amy Broadhurst replaces reigning champ Kelly Harrington in World Championships squad

Amy Broadhurst has a ‘great opportunity’ to stake a claim for Olympic qualifying selection at this years  World Women’s Championships suggests High Performance Director Bernard Dunne.

The Louth native has been confirmed as Ireland’s 60kg representative in the prestigious tournament after it was revealed reigning champion and Olympic gold medal favourite Kelly Harrington won’t be travelling to Ulan-Ude, Siberia next month.

Harrington hasn’t recovered from the thumb injury that forced her out of the recent European Games final – and subsequent European Championships -and thus won’t travel.

Fortunately for Ireland we have another world level operator that can go in her in place in Broadhurst.

The Dundalk fighter only last week celebrated European Championships success as she collected her first senior medal in the form of bronze out in Madrid in Harrington’s absence.

Reporting in the Irish Independent, Bernard O’Neill confirmed the fighter, who fought at 64kgs at Worlds in India last year only to exit in controversial circumstances at the quarter-final stage, will now get the chance to add another senior major international honour to her collection.

Possibly, and more significantly, a successful World Championships campaign may raise some debate as to who Ireland should send to the Olympic qualifiers in London’s Copper Box next March.

Up and until this week Harrington was deemed male or female as the most likely first name on the team sheet in that regard, even despite the fact she is possibly one of the Olympic qualifier pole custodians with one of the more qualified rivals.

Worlds success would certainly see Broadhurst close the gap, would increase the interest in November’s National Elites tenfold, and give the IABA a selection headache.

It’s a great opportunity for Amy at the World Championships,” said Dunne.
“Everything we do right now, Worlds, Europeans, training camps, are about prepping our teams for the qualifiers in London.”

Ireland will name a five-strong squad for the 11th edition of the Worlds and Dunne will confirm the other four boxers in four of the five Olympic weights – flyweight, featherweight, welterweight, middleweight – for women this weekend.

Once again, the current non-Olympic weights are being unilaterally ignored by Dunne.

 

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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