Irish Squad land in Baku

The Irish Elite squad arrived in Azerbaijan last night ahead of the start of the 2011 AIBA World Championships and Olympic qualifiers at the Sport and Exhibition Centre in Baku next Monday.

The general weigh-in and draw will be held Sunday followed by the actual weigh-in and preliminary round bouts on Monday morning.

A record breaking 685 boxers from 127 nations have entered the tournament. Ninety two Olympic places will be available in Baku.

Boxers in eight of the weight categories from light-flyweight to light-heavyweight (49Kg to 81Kg) will qualify for the London Olympics if they reach the quarter-finals.

Two of the losing boxers from the last 16 in these eight weight categories will also secure Olympic qualification provided that they were beaten by the eventual finalists.

Boxers competing in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight categories must reach the semi-finals (which will secure at least bronze) to guarantee qualification for the 30th Olympiad.

Likewise, two of the losing quarter-finalists in these weight categories will also qualify for London provided that they were beaten by the eventual finalists.

Meantime, you can follow all bouts through the AIBA live scoring system on

www.aiba.org .

From the Round of 16 and until the Finals, all matches will be live on www.AIBAboxingTV.com and on Youtube at www.youtube.com/aibaboxingtv.

Baku is four hours ahead of Ireland.

Irish Squad 2011 AIBA World Championships & Olympic Qualifiers Baku, Azerbaijan Sept/22nd/Oct 10th

49Kg: (Light-flyweight) – Paddy Barnes (Holy Family BC, Belfast)
52Kg: (Flyweight) – Michael Conlon (St John Bosco BC, Belfast)
56Kg: (Bantamweight) – John Joe Nevin (Cavan BC)
60Kg: (Lightweight) – David Oliver Joyce (St Michael’s Athy BC, Kildare)
64Kg: (Light-welterweight) – Ray Moylette (St Anne’s BC, Mayo)
69Kg: (Welterweight) – Roy Sheehan (St Michael’s Athy BC, Kildare)
75Kg: (Middleweight) – Darren O’Neill (Paulstown BC, Kilkenny)
81Kg: (Light-heavyweight) – Joe Ward (Moate BC, Westmeath)
91Kg: (Heavyweight) – Ken Egan (Neilstown BC, Dublin)
91Kg+: (Super-heavyweight) – Con Sheehan (Clonmel BC, Tipperary)