By HerSport Editor
Cavan’s Ceire Smith will be the first Irish boxer in action at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in the Siberian city of Ulan-Ude.
The Irish flyweight takes on Australian Taylah Robertson on Thursday with the winner facing the number one seed from North Korea in round two.
Team Ireland have sent a four-strong Irish squad of Ceire Smith, Michaela Walsh, Amy Broadhurst and Christina Desmond to compete. The Irish four will be competing in four of the five Olympic weights for women.
First up as we #MeetTheTeam its Ceire Smith!
Height: 1.66m
Weight: 51kg
Stance: Southpaw
Club: Virginia/Cavan BC
Sporting Idol: @KatieTaylor
Favourite Memory: Winning my 1st Irish Elite Title 🏆🇮🇪
Major Honours:
🇮🇪Elite Title x 6
🥈Feliks Stamm#TeamIreland #20×20 pic.twitter.com/M9AK5dJC41
— IABA (@IABABOXING) September 27, 2019
Michaela Walsh is Ireland’s only seeded boxer at the championships. Walsh received a bye in the first round of the featherweight division. The Belfast featherweight is coming into the Championships with a silver medal after she lost out on a split decision to Stanimira Petrova of Bulgaria in the final at the European Games last June. The number five seed faces the winner of a first round bout between a German and a Russian fighter.
Amy Broadhurst, who is replacing Kellie Harrington following a thumb injury, takes on a German lightweight Maya Kleinhans. Broadhurst won her first-ever major international medal at senior level in September.
In the welterweight division, Christina Desmond faces England’s Sandy Ryan in the first round on Friday.
The significance of the Women’s World Boxing Championships has slightly diminished as it is no longer an Olympic qualifier for Tokyo 2020. This is due to the fact that the International Olympic Committee has effectively banned AIBA due to it’s troubled world governing body.
Alternatively, the IOC are organising their own Olympic qualifying tournaments where the European route to the Olympics is set to take place in London, Next March.