The draws have taken place in the 2nd Olympic World Qualifier in Bangkok. 579 boxers from 133 countries will contest the tournament. As with the 1st Olympic World Qualifier in March, boxers will contest to quota; meaning, they will cease to box at a qualification bout. There will be no semi-finals or finals, and no medals bestowed. In five of the weights Ireland is contesting in Bangkok (50kg, 54kg, 66kg, 51kg and 92+kg), four Paris quota places are available. In Men’s 71kg, 5 quota places are available, and there are 3 in Men’s 80kg – which means the de-facto bronze medalists will box off for the final quota place in that weight.
50kg Daina Moorehouse has a bye to the Round of 16 and will first meet Grigoryan of Armenia. 54kg Jenny Lehane has a bye to the Round of 16 and takes on Lopez of Puerto Rico in her opening bout. 66kg Grainne Walsh opens her campaign at the tournament at the Round of 32 stage, against Hoang of Vietnam. 51kg Sean Mari contests his first bout of the tournament in the Round of 32 against Faheem of Pakistan. 71kg Aidan Walsh has a Round of 64 against Maina of Kenya – his category is among the largest at the tournament and includes 70 boxers. 80kg Kelyn Cassidy makes his debut at Round of 32 stage against Dadaev of Germany and 92+kg Martin McDonagh is first in action at the Round of 16 against Ngoc of Vietnam on Wednesday afternoon next, May 29th. The Tuam man must win three bouts and make the semi-finals to qualify for Paris. If Martin wins his first two fights, he will likely face the man who narrowly beat him in the first Olympic qualifiers, Denis Latypov, the Russian-born boxer who now represents Bahrain.
His potential path to the Olympics is outlined below:
