A nine-man Irish Elite squad
arrived in France this morning for a Round Robin tournament with
the host nation, Germany, Morocco and Sweden.
The tournament begins in Calais
tomorrow.
Irish 2012 Olympians Paddy Barnes,
Michael Conlan, John Joe Nevin, Adam Nolan and Darren O'Neill are
included in the Irish squad.
Joe Ward, the current European
light-heavyweight champion, has also been named in the Irish panel,
along with David Oliver Joyce, Ross Hickey and Steven Ward.
The Round Robin will be
the final competitive tournament for the Olympic squad before
London 2012.
Katie Taylor has also qualified
for the 30th Olympiad but is not taking part in the Calais Round
Robin.
Taylor won her fourth AIBA World
Women's 60kg title in-a-row in China last month.
Eight boxers, including Taylor,
qualified for the London Olympics in the lightweight class in
China.
The other four places (invitation
places) to make up Taylor's 12-strong lightweight Division will be
distributed by the Tripartite Commission.
The Tripartite Commission are also
due to announce their invitation places for male boxers for London
2012.
Irish squad Round Robin Calais
France June 7/10th
49kg Paddy Barnes (Holy
Family)
52kg Michael Conlan (St John
Bosco)
56kg John Joe Nevin (Cavan)
60kg David Oliver Joyce (St
Michael's Athy)
64kg Ross Hickey (Grangecon)
69kg Adam Nolan (Bray)
75kg Darren O'Neill
(Paulstown)
81kg Joe Ward (Moate)
91kg Steven Ward (Monkstown)
Team manager: Des Donnelly
Coaches: Billy Walsh, Zuar Antia,
Jimmy Halpin
R&J: Paul McMahon
Physio: Scott Murphy
07/06/2012 22:15:36