Fighting Irish suffer defeat on the double
Ireland’s winning streak at the World Women’s Elites ended on the wrong end of two split decisions in Ulan-Ude, Siberia yesterday.
Cavan flyweight Ceire Smith was edged 3-2 by North Korea’s world elite champion Mi Choi Pang and Belfast feather Michaela Walsh dropped a 4-1 split to Russia’s Liudmila Vorontsova.
Ireland had won four on the trot before those last 16 bouts, but IABA high-performance director Bernard Dunne admitted that it was “hard to argue” with yesterday’s results.
Smith won plaudits for her performances against the No 1 seed. The Pyongyang puncher was on the canvas in the first round but that was ruled a slip.
Smith admitted she wasn’t sure how Choi Pang ended up occupying a large area of floor space in an extremely tight 51kg clash.
“I have now faced the world number one from North Korea and world number two from Turkey within the last couple of months,” she said.
“I know I’m up there with the best in the world. My tactics today from the corner were perfect and in my first round, I felt showed that.
“As the fight progressed and she changed her tactics I slowed and I felt the last round was very messy and more like a wrestling match.
“I will be taking all the positives from this tournament and building on this.”
Dundalk lightweight Amy Broadhurst and Cork welter Christina Desmond are in action today in Siberia.
