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The 2012 Women’s
World Championships Draw is Completed in Qinhuangdao, China
[Interesting Altered Olympic Qualification Process]
by Julie
Goldsticker - USA Boxing
May 11, 2012 |
(MAY
11) The Women’s World Championships
official event draw was held today in Qinhuangdao, China and the
three potential Olympians from the United States and six fellow
World Championship team members know the road that lies ahead
for each of them in the key international tournament.
An altered Olympic qualification process focused on continental
quotas was announced at the event’s technical meeting on
Thursday, and the United States’ three Olympic hopefuls will now
have a slightly different road than initially thought to advance
to London. While eight boxers from each Olympic weight class
will still earn berths in China, the selections will be based on
how they finish in comparison with the other boxers from their
continent. Flyweight Marlen Esparza (Houston, Texas) and
middleweight Claressa Shields (Flint, Mich.) will need to place
in the top two from the Americas while lightweight Queen
Underwood (Seattle, Wash.) requires a first place finish in the
continent. Due to this wrinkle in the qualification process, it
could be the end of the tournament before the full list of 2012
Olympic Games competitors is announced.
Underwood and Shields will open action tomorrow with Esparza
taking the ring for the first time on Sunday due to a first
round bye. Underwood will take on Dayana Sanchez of Argentina
while Shields battles India’s Pooja Rani in first round action
on Saturday. Esparza will face the winner of a first round
contest between Argentina’s Pamela Benavidez and Zohra El
Zahraoui of Mauritius in her first bout on Sunday.
In non-Olympic weight class action, welterweight Raquel Miller
(San Francisco, Calif.) will kick off the competition for Team
USA in a bout with New Zealand’s Daena Stephenson today.
Bantamweight Christina Cruz (New York, N.Y.) will join the
Olympic trio in competition on Sunday as she battles Nicole
Michel of Switzerland. Featherweight Tiara Brown (Lehigh Acres,
Fla.) and light heavyweight Franchon Crews (Baltimore, Md.) will
open competition on Monday. Brown will await the winner of a
bout between Serbia’s Ranic Bojana and India’s Mandakini
Kangabam while Crews will take on France’s Sabrina Delarue.
Light welterweight Mikaela Mayer (Los Angeles, Calif.) will be
the final U.S. boxer to take the ring as she takes on the winner
of the bout between New Zealand’s Laura Matthews and Spain’s
Judit Barbosa Sotelo on May 15.
Preliminary action will be contested in two sessions daily at 3
p.m. and 7 p.m. local time from today through Tuesday.
Quarterfinal competition will take place on Wednesday prior to
Thursday’s off day. Friday will feature semifinal rounds action
with the event concluding on Saturday, May 19 with final round
competition.
A full list of brackets for the event are attached, and live
results can be viewed via the AIBA website at aiba.org.
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style
boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the
International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of
the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
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