After beating Merven Clair of Mauritius in the quarterfinals, Belfast boxer Aidan Walsh is assured of at least a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The welterweight fighter for Team Ireland has won his last eight bouts by 4-1 split decision.
A. Walsh Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Walsh’s semi-final match is scheduled for Sunday, and his opponent will be Pat McCormack of Great Britain.
While celebrating his victory, Walsh reportedly strained his ankle, but Team Ireland is sure he will be ready for Sunday’s bout.
Olympic Federation of Ireland chief executive Peter Sherrard told RTE, “He’s fine, just a little bit of a scare.”
The main thing and fantastic news leading up to that huge bout is that “they’ve had a good look at it and feel that he’ll be ready and fighting fit.”
Despite his opponent’s valiant efforts, Walsh, 24, was declared the winner by a unanimous decision (4-1) when he won the opening round on all five judges’ scorecards.
McCormack, the top seed, has already beaten Walsh in the qualifying rounds for the Commonwealth Games, the World Championship, and the European Championship.
Walsh remained calm throughout their quarterfinal, delivering many hard straight rights and consistently catching his opponent on the counter.
With his more relaxed approach, southpaw Clair found some success now and then, but Walsh was able to sit back and pick him off in rounds two and three.
There were four judges for this bout; three scored it 30-27 for Walsh, one scored it 29-28 for Clair, and the fourth judge scored it 30-27 for Walsh.
“Honestly, I still can’t believe I’m here at the Olympics. Wait until the official signals you to raise your hand.”
Rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy won gold in the lightweight men’s double sculls, and the women’s lightweight four won bronze.
Barr and Harrington Make Some Headway.
Kellie Harrington, the top-seeded boxer from Ireland in the women’s lightweight division, won a unanimous decision in her round-of-sixteen match against Rebecca Nicoli, the top-seeded boxer from Italy.
After coming second in his 400-meter hurdles heat behind world record holder Karsten Warholm, Irish runner Thomas Barr advanced to the semi-finals.
Barr ran a 49.02 and placed fourth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, behind winner Molly Warholm’s 48.65.
Last Words
The Irish runner qualified as the eleventh quickest out of a total of twenty-three, and will compete in Sunday’s second semi-final at 11:15 a.m. Thanks for reading our article A. Walsh Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
