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Aoife O’Rourke and Patsy Joyce are also guaranteed a minimum of bronze after victories this afternoon
Grainne Walsh of Ireland, left, reacts after winning their Women’s 65kg quarterfinal bout against Liu Yang of China
Patsy Joyce celebrates his quarter-final victory in Liverpool with former professional world champion Tony Bellew. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Aoife O’Rourke in action against Sunniva Hofstad of Norway during their women’s 75kg quarter-final at the World Boxing Championships in the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Grainne Walsh was overcome with emotion after coming through a razor-close 65kg bout to guarantee a World Championship in Liverpool.
After a titanic battle, she was the 3-2 split-decision victor via countback over Paris Olympics silver medallist China’s Yang Liu, as three judges could not separate them.
The 29-year-old won the first round on all three judges’ scorecards, showing her trademark pace and quick combinations, but the momentum swung in round two, as Walsh’s aggressiveness was her undoing, as she was deducted a point for leading with her head.
The final round was a close-fought affair with Yang trying to stifle Walsh in the clinch, but it went to the judges, and once Walsh heard her name, she jumped in the air, with a lot of emotion on show, on what was a great day for Irish boxing.
Walsh joins Aoife O’Rourke and Patsy Joyce in securing a World medal, and the Offaly native will box her semi-final on Friday evening against Kazakhstan’s Aida Abikeyeva.
Earlier today, Roscommon middleweight O’Rourke (28), whose sister bowed out at the last-eight stage yesterday, was up against Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad and she continued her impressive form at the tournament to get the nod from four of the five judges on a 30-27 scoreline.
The four-time European champion can now also call herself a double World medallist, and she will be back in action on Saturday at 1.15pm when she will fight China’s Lina Wang for a final spot.
Aoife O’Rourke in action against Sunniva Hofstad of Norway during their women’s 75kg quarter-final at the World Boxing Championships in the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Joyce will also have a semi-final bout on Saturday after he narrowly overcame Uzbekistan’s Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov on a 3-2 decision to secure his first senior world medal.
The 19-year-old Mullingar featherweight overcame a slow start – he was trailing on four scorecards after the first round – to take the win 29-28, 28-29, 27-30, 29-28, 30-27. He will take on Spain’s Rafael Serrano Lozano in the semi-finals on Saturday at 2.15pm.