WORLD champion Amy Broadhurst has secured at least a bronze medal at the Strandja Memorial tournament in Sofia.
he Dundalk native bounced back after her surprise defeat in the final of the welterweight division at the Irish Elite finals by guaranteeing herself a place on the podium in her new weight division.
Broadhurst enjoyed spectacular success in the light welterweight category last year winning World, Commonwealth and European titles and being named Boxer of the Tournament at the latter event. But it is not an Olympic weight which forced Broadhurst to move to the 66kg division.
In today’s quarter-final she fashioned a unanimous 5-0 points win over Canada’s Charlie Cavanagh to advance to tomorrow’s semi-final where she faces China’s Liu Yang.
Beating Cavanagh in a new weight division was a notable achievement for Broadhurst as the Canadian won a silver medal in the 66kg division at the World championships in Istanbul last May.
There was no joy for Niamh Fay and Jennifer Lehane, however, boxing in the bantamweight quarter-final as they lost to American and Polish opponents respectively.
In tonight’s session light heavyweight Kelyn Cassidy and flyweight Sean Mari will be aiming to secure medals.
Olympic champion Kellie Harrington – who is competing in the non-Olympic light welterweight class – and European silver medallist Tina Desmond (light middleweight) are guaranteed medals as they received byes into the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals tomorrow, Harrington faces a French opponent while Desmond meets an Indian fighter.
The tournament is one of the most prestigious in the world and arguably the most competitive outside the continental and World championships.
It is of particular significance to the Irish squad who will not be competing in the IBA World championships this year ahead of the Olympic qualification tournament in Poland in June.