Team NI Boxing has departed for Glasgow and the Commonwealth Games.
Boxing is Team NI’s most successful sport, having won 61 CWG medals, of which 13 are gold. Team NI topped the medal table in the ring four years ago in Birmingham with 5 golds and silver and a bronze.
The team was announced in May and since then, has been in training at the Ulster High Performance Unit, supported by Sport NI, and Sport NI sport science medicine practitioners. There preparations have included a 10 week bloc of training, contesting the Eindhoven Box Cup, the 34th Ahmet Comert Bosporus International in Turkey and against a Scotland select.
Preparation culminated in the largest sparring camp ever held on the island of Ireland – a 16 nation camp in Belfast from July 6th to 16th, including Team NI Boxing; Team Ireland; Australia; Canada; Fiji; France; Ghana; GB; India; Mauritius, Nigeria, New Zealand; Scotland; Soloman Islands, Switzerland; Tonga; Tuvalu; Zambia. In all, over 200 boxers, coaches and support staff participated in the camp, which included 300 spars and 7 school combat sessions.
As the team departs, Team NI Boxing Head Coach Jay Delaney has been reflecting on the support the team has received throughout their preparations.
He’s extended his thanks to Ulster Provincial Council and Antrim County Board, and to R&J’s Chris McCrory, Joe Lowe, Michael O’Neil, Mal Scott and Barry Tucker who gave of their time to officiate at camp spars.
Jay has also paid tribute to the Operations Team which established, organised and managed the camp, led by Aimee Shiels and the ongoing support of funders including Belfast City Council, SportNI and the National Lottery Good Causes programme.
He has also recognised the huge role Sport NI’s Sport Science Medicine practitioners play in the data-driven preparation of athletes for the highest level competition.
Double Olympian Michaela Walsh and Paris Olympian Jude Gallagher return to defend their titles in Glasgow.
It will be Walsh’s fourth Commonwealth Games having started her journey 12 years ago in Glasgow when she won a silver medal. Four years later at the Gold Coast in Australia Walsh won another silver. In Birmingham Walsh topped the podium by beating Elizabeth Oshoba in the final to win the featherweight gold medal.
Gallagher was crowned featherweight champion after his opponent in the final Ghana’s Joseph Commey was unable to fight.
JP Hale and Nicole Clyde also return for the squad that competed in Birmingham and there are eight boxers competing at their first Commonwealth Games. JP’s clubmate, Louis Rooney, is also named in the team. He is a two time Boxing Ireland Elite champ, and a mutiple European U23 medalist. At 65kg, Kaci Rock, has boxed internationally at European Elite and European U23 levels. Jon McConnell, Kaci’s Holy Trinity clubmate, fills the male 70kg berth – he’s an Elite champion, and has boxed internationally at World Boxing Cup, at Strandja and recently won gold at the Tammer tournament representing Ulster. Janseen Hill rounds-out the Holy Trinity troika – she’s the reigning Ulster Elite champion.
The team is co-captained by Caitlin Fryers and Jude Gallagher. Caitlin, who contests at 51kg, is a World Youth medalist, a 2022 European Elite silver medalist and multiple Ulster Elite champion. Paris Olympian and fellow multiple Ulster Elite champ, Jude, returns at lighweight, but is the 2022 Birmingham CWG featherweight champion. The pair were selected as Captains by their team-mates.
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The Games
Boxing at the SEC Centre on the Scottish Event Campus will take place from Friday July 24th to Saturday, August 1st,: July 30th is a rest day.
Afternoon Sessions will, typically, begin at 11am and Evening Sessions at 6pm. The complete Games schedule is available here
How to Watch
- Every event will be available exclusively live across all subscription plans, including TNT Sports 2 (The Commonwealth Games 360) and all live event streams. Further details on plans and pricing can be found here.
- EE TV: Customers can enjoy all the action via TNT Sports on HBO Max dependent on their subscription type.
- Sky: Customers can enjoy the full Commonwealth Games experience on TNT Sports and HBO Max, depending on their subscription.
- NOW: Customers can access the Commonwealth Games 360 channel via TNT Sports 2 with a Now Entertainment & HBO Max Membership, and in Ireland via TNT Sports
- Virgin Media TV UK and Ireland: TNT Sports customers can watch the coverage via their set-top box (as well as via HBO Max in the U.K).
- Prime Video: In the UK, coverage is available via a TNT Sports subscription. TNT Sports 2 and all live event streams are also available on any HBO Max subscription.
Team NI
51kg Caitlin Fryers, Immaculata BC
54kg Nicole Clyde, Antrim BC.
55kg Louis Rooney, Star BC
57kg Michaela Walsh, Holy Family BC
60kg Jude Gallagher Two Castles OBA
65kg JP Hale, Star BC
65kg Kaci Rock, Holy Trinity BC
70kg Jon McConnell, Holy Trinity BC
70kg Janssen Hill, Holy Trinity BC
80kg Eoghan Quinn, St John’s, Swatragh
90kg Garyn McAllister, North Down BC
90+kg Willie Jon McCartan, Gilford BC