Ireland captain Ken Egan and Darren Sutherland completed a fantastic day for Irish amateur boxing after qualifying for the 2008 Olympics following semi-finals victories at the final Olympic qualifier for European boxers in Athens on Friday.
Sutherland, of the St Saviours club in Dublin, booked his ticket for Beijing after his Moldovan opponent retired with a facial injury in the third round.
Sutherland was 21-7 up when Victor Cotiujanschii retired.
Egan, who boxes out of the Neilstown club in Dublin, followed that up with an impressive 21-11 win over German light heavyweight Gottlieb Weiss.
‘I had a great second round and I pushed on from there,’ reported Egan.
‘It will take a while for all this to sink in yet and I am absolutely thrilled
with this win.’
Earlier, light welterweight John Joe Joyce qualified the Beijing after recording an emphatic semi-final victory over Sipiha Harun.
Joyce, the reigning Irish 64Kg champion, took all four rounds against his German opponent before having his hand raised in victory on a 27-12 verdict.
‘I was first into the ring all week and it was my job to ensure that we got off to a good start and thankfully we did today,’ Joyce said.
‘I would like to dedicate this victory to Dominic O'Rourke and the entire High Performance team and the Irish Sports Council who have been so good to us down through the years.’
Irish fighters’ exploits in Greece means that Ireland will have five boxers competing at the Olympic Games in Beijing next August, as Holy Family Belfast light flyweight Paddy Barnes, and Cavan bantamweight John Joe Nevin have already qualified for Beijing.
Meanwhile, Egan, Sutherland and Joyce will have to put the euphoria of Olympic qualification to one side for now to concentrate on Saturday’s finals.
