Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke will go for world championship gold

Boxing

Ireland's Amy Broadhurst celebrates winning her semi-final at the World Championships in Istanbul

©INPHO/Aleksandar Djorovic

Ireland's Amy Broadhurst celebrates winning her semi-final at the World Championships in Istanbul

Sean McGoldrick Twitter

May 19 2022 07:00 AM

For the first time, Ireland will have two boxers fighting for gold medals at the same women’s World championships.

Light welterweight Amy Broadhurst and 20-year-old Lisa O’Rourke – who fights at light middleweight – secured historic wins in Istanbul yesterday to secure silver medals at least, as well as guaranteed prize money of €43,000 each.

The pair will aim to join Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington as world champions, which would earn them €86,000 each and a gold medal.

O’Rourke, who celebrated her 20th birthday last week, has emerged as the unsung hero.

The younger sister of Tokyo Olympian Aoife, Lisa has hit an amazing streak of form and her semi-final win is all the more noteworthy as she got the decision against a hometown fighter, Sema Caliskan.

Broadhurst, the 25-year-old Dundalk southpaw, who will fight for Northern Ireland in this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, was beaten in her previous four appearances at the quarter-final stage before finally smashing the glass ceiling in Istanbul.

Lisa O'Rourke on her way to victory over Sema Caliskan which has secured the Irish boxer of at least a silver medal at the World Championships

She faced 19-year-old Indian light welterweight Parveen in the semi-final.

In the first round she deployed her skills to telling effect and comfortably won the round on all five judges’ card. The Indian decided that her best chance was to turn the contest into a brawl and tied up Broadhurst at every opportunity.

Three of the judges gave Parveen the round, leaving the fight in the balance going into the last three minutes, when the Irish champion had more success at getting her shots on targets. It was a close call but she won on a majority 4-1 decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

In the final, Broadhurst will meet Algerian Imane Khelif, beaten by Kellie Harrington in the quarter-finals of the lightweight category at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Twenty minutes later it was the turn of Castlerea native O’Rourke to attempt to turn bronze into at least a silver.

O’Rourke’s used her footwork to telling effect in the opening round, which she won on all five judges’ card.

Caliskan had more success in the second and three of the judges give her the nod. But O’Rourke dominated the final round.

All but one of the judges gave O’Rourke the round for a unanimous win. She will meet Helena Alcinda from Mozambique in the final.

Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke will go for world championship gold

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