(AUG 21)  This week the EUBC European Youth and Junior championships are taking place at the Sport Hall in Keszthely, Hungary on the shores of Lake Balaton.

Thursday and Friday are semi-finals days with the finals on Saturday. Today we take a look at the events involving boxers from Ireland and from Great Britain.

Dealgan BC first cousins Amy Broadhurst and Orla Garvey are through to Saturday's in Keszthely after convincing wins today against the champions of Sweden and Turkey respectively.

Broadhurst, a silver medallist in these championships a year ago today TKO’d Sweden’s experienced Sofia Nilson – her second 'inside the distance' win in 24 hours - and now faces off against Italy's Francesca Matussciello in Saturday's final.

Amy had this to say later :"Can’t explain how I feel right now, I won my fight on TKO3 to book my spot into my 4th European Final. I made every European final I’ve been to, so hopefully I can win my 3rd European gold. On top of the world,” said Broadhurst.

The Italians are once again excelling in these Europeans with four of their team already through to the final stages and another three in action on Friday. Matussciello, from Excelsior Boxe comes from Napoli and today was too powerful for her Russian opponent so no easy task for Amy Broadhurst if she is to bring that elusive Gold back to Dundalk and Ireland.

Earlier, Garvey, boxing in the Junior 57kg class, overpowered Turkey’s Havanur En en route to a unanimous decision and she now boxes off for the European crown against Russian Liudmilla Voransova,who was outstanding in the recent AIBA World Junior title event in Taipei and took the silver medal there so another tough bout in prospect for Orla.

Speaking to Amy's Dad and Dealgan BC coach Tony Broadhurst, who is in Keszthely, Tony was full of praise both for Amy and for Orla and told your correspondent:

“Amy came over so focused and determined and 2 stoppages in both contests and to make her 4th European final in a row is such a proud and memorable time for us, especially her performance today was outstanding. Orla has worked, listened and has got such a determination that no opponent enjoys being in the ring with her, she never gives up, brilliant attitude!”

More praise followed from the Irish team management:

“Amy and Orla and all the girls were outstanding today and they each gave it absolutely everything in the ring. We are very happy with them. They fought their hearts out today and all week “ said Irish Team Manager Maura Campbell,

Belfast's Caitlin Fryers had to settle for bronze against Olga Vozniak of the Ukraine. A big display from the Belfast light-fly, but Vozniak’s height and reach advantage proved to be the difference. Caitlin has impressed this week and is one to watch for the future.

Katelynn Phelan, the youngest member of the Irish squad in Hungary, will also be taking home a well deserved bronze following her defeat by Italian light-welter Vittoria DiCarlo. The Italian has been one of the favourites for the Gold since arriving in Hungary but Katelynn has had a fine tournament and will greatly benefit from the experience..

Irish coach Liam Brereton was another who was extremely proud of his charges today and said later:

“All that beat Caitlin was height. The unanimous decision, as was the case with Katelynn, was not a fair reflection. It definitely didn’t tell the tale of both bouts, he concluded.
“Caitlin is a 'pocket rocket' and Katelynn has the heart of a lion. You couldn’t ask for anymore from them or from all the girls today. They gave it everything, represented their country with pride and left everything in the ring. Outstanding performances all round.”

Saoirse Dignam, Chloe Callender, Kelsey Leonard, Shauna O’Callaghan and Lauren Kelly will be in semi-final action Friday. The finals will be held on Saturday.

Now let us turn to the boxers representing neighbours Great Britain - this update (the latest at the time of writing) comes from 'Boxing England':


"England's women continue to impress at the 2015 Junior and Youth Women's European Championships with four members of the team into the semi-finals and some promising performances from yesterday's losing quarter finalists.

A closely fought 50kg opening round saw Millie O'Neill box well against Ukrainian world silver medallist Katerina Rohova. The Ukrainian’s experience showed in the second, as she put O'Neill under increasing pressure, but with a gutsy performance in the final round, the English boxer finished on good form. Rohova took the win, but it was an impressive start for a boxer making her debut at a major tournament.

Ebonie Jones dominated her 51kg bout from the start, forcing the Russian back with relentless pressure. Excellent footwork and movement enabled Jones to land accurate shots and guarantee at least a bronze as she advances to the semi-finals.

In a very close contest at 57kg, Shelby Brazell worked well behind her jab, catching her Swedish opponent with long range shots. With little to separate the pair, Brazell found herself on the back foot as the contest progressed. In a match which could have gone either way, the English boxer lost by split decision.

The team’s final bout of the day, between Ellie Scotney and Ezra Yildiz at 60kg, was a show worth waiting for. A ferocious battle saw both boxers exchange hard punches as Scotney pressured effectively before unleashing shots on her opponent.

As the contest heated up, both the Turkish and English teams were passionately urging on their team mates. Both boxers were left exhausted at the final bell, and the decision went to the Turk, but Scotney can be proud of her performances during the competition." (Thanks to Boxing England for that update).

Today's semi-finals were due to be "live streamed" by the EUBC but sadly this did not materialise and viewers were left baffled as they could only see two technicians for much of the time trying to fix the fault. Not a word of explanation or apology.

Let's hope that EUBC and their appointed providers will have resolved the problems by Friday's semi-finals. Hopefully they will also issue an apology to the many viewers around Europe who spent valuable time trying to 'tune in' all in vain. This is NOT helping either the EUBC or the AIBA in promoting women's boxing.

With their own Management and staff on the ground in Keszthely why could they not have provided "live" results via their social media (Twitter/Facebook) accounts? This is 2015 not the 1950's and International boxing associations must provide a professional service 7 days a week, just like other sports.


Room for improvement? Most assuredly. The fans, the families, the coaches around Europe deserve an explanation and hopefully a quality service will be provided this weekend. Watch this space!

European Women’s Youth and Junior Championships:

(a) : Irish results

YOUTHS:

August 19th (Q/Final)
57kg Amy Broadhurst (Ireland) beat Marietta Kiss (Hungary) TKO4

August 20th (S/Finals)
Amy Broadhurst (Ireland) beat Sofia Nilson (Sweden) TKO3

August 21st (S/Final)
69kg Saoirse Dignam (Ireland) v Sonia Sabiniarz (Poland)

August 22nd (Finals)
57kg Amy Broadhurst (Ireland) v Francesca Matussciello (Italy)

JUNIORS:
August 20th (S/Finals)
48kg Caitlin Fryers (Ireland) lost to Olga Vozniak (Ukraine) 0-3
57kg Orla Garvey (Ireland) beat Havanur En (Turkey) 3-0
63kg Katelynn Phelan (Ireland) lost to Vittoria DiCarlo (Italy) 0-3

August 21st (S/Finals)
46kg Chloe Callender (Ireland) v Gabriella Karolyi (Hungary)
50kg Kelsey Leonard (Ireland) v Katerina Rohara (Ukraine)
60kg Shauna O’Callaghan (Ireland) v Olexandra Kharytonuk (Ukraine)
66kg Lauren Kelly (Ireland) v Gabriella Petrovics (Hungary)

August 22nd (Finals)
57kg Orla Garvey (Ireland) v Liudmilla Voransova (Russia)

(b): GB boxers results - provided by 'Boxing England' website

19/8/2015 – Quarter-finals

Juniors:

50kg Millie O'Neill (England) lost to Katerina Rohova (Ukraine) 3:0

Youths

51kg Ebonie Jones (England) beat Ljubov Pshenitsyna (Russia) 3:0

57kg Shelby Brazell (England) lost to Sofia Nildon (Sweden) 2:1

60kg Ellie Scotney (England) lost to Ezra Yildiz (Turkey) 2:0