European U19 Championships – Silver Lining For Conway and Donoghue
Grace Conway and John Donoghue secured European silver at least in the Czech Republic.
The teen prospects won their respective European Championships U19 semi-finals to improve bronze to silver and secure the chance to win gold on Thursday.
Featherweight, Conway is assured of at least a silver medal following a dominant performance in Ostrava this afternoon. The Louth fighter was the 5-0 winner over Romania’s Elise Mirela Cojocaru. The judges scored the bout 28:26; 28:26, 28:26, 28:26, 28:26.
65kg Donoghue has won a silver medal, following his semi-final against Greece’s Emmanouil Fotiadis, which ended in the first round following the Greek boxer’s disqualification.
The World Youth champion’s opponent was disqualified for a blow to the back of the head. The Olympic Mullingar boxer was assessed at ringside by the tournament’s medical staff, and required no further treatment. The team leadership, in consultation with Donoghue, his club and his family, have decided to withdraw him from tomorrow’s finals to safeguard his wellbeing and his future career.
Team Co-Captain 51kg Kayleigh Byrne will return on Friday with bronze. She boxed a superb semi-final against 2024 World & European Youth champ, England’s Ruby White. The 5-0 decision went to the English boxer. The judges scored the bout 29:28; 29:28; 30:27; 29:28; 30:27. 75kg Nessa Tabachuk returns from the European U19 Championship with bronze, following her semi final against Italy’s Miriam di Savino. The 5-0 decision went to the Italian boxer. The final scores: 27: 30, 27: 30, 27: 30, 27: 30, 27: 30.
105 female and 189 male boxers from 33 nations are competiting in Ostrava. The participating nations are: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.
