Team Ireland are in Assisi with the host nation, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Finland preparing for the European Olympic qualifiers which begin in Samsun, Turkey on April 9.
Darren O’Neill, Paddy Barnes, Christina Desmond, Ceire Smith, Joe Ward, Zaur Antia and David Oliver Joyce in Assisi today along with Joe Ward, Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan, who have already qualified for Rio 2016.
If Cork middleweight Christina Desmond, books a ticket for Rio, she’ll become, along with Ward, one of only two Irish boxers to represent their country at both the Youth Olympics and Olympics.
Ward, a World Youth gold medallist, lined out at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, and Desmond, a World Youth silver medallist, at the 2014 Youth Olympics in China.
Irish squad European Olympic qualifiers Samsun, Turkey April 7/17
Female
51kg Ceire Smith (Cavan)
60kg Katie Taylor (Bray)
71kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgans)
Male
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Pauls)
60kg David Oliver Joyce (AIBA Pro Boxing)
64kg Dean Walsh (St Joesphs/St Ibars)
75kg Michael O’Reilly (Portlaoise)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Paulstown)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel)
Team manager: Joe Hennigan
Coaches: Zaur Antia, Eddie Bolger, John Conlan
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(Also in training camp in Assisi)
49kg Paddy Barnes (Holy Family)
56kg Michael Conlan (Clonard)
81kg Joe Ward (AIBA Pro Boxing)
Source: iaba.ie
