The outcome of Friday’s welterweight semi-final between Egidijus Kavaliauskas of Lithuania and Sapiyev Serik of Kazakhstan can influence Ireland’s welterweight Roy Sheehan’s chances of Olympic qualification.
Kavaliauskas, who beat Fred Evans of Wales on Thursday, beat Sheehan in the last-16 of the competition.
However, if he beats Serik in the semi-finals on Friday then Sheehan will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Under the Olympic qualification system in operation in Baku, boxers losing at the last-16 stage in eight of the weight categories from light-flyweight to light-heavyweight will qualify for the Olympic Games if they were beaten by boxers that reach their respective finals in those eight weight classes.
Joe Ward’s and David Oliver Joyce’s hopes of qualifying via this route were dashed when Iranian Ehsan Rouzbahani and Indian Jai Bhagwan, who beat the Irish fighters in the last-16, lost on Thursday.
The Ukraine currently top of the Olympic qualification table with six boxers qualified.
