Team Ireland boxer Kellie Harrington has guaranteed herself a medal after a dominant victory over Algerian Imane Khalif in the Women’s Lightweight division (57-60 KG) on Tuesday morning.
The Irish boxer sealed a dominant 5-0 victory on the judges’ scorecards to ensure the fourth medal for Team Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Olympics’ top seed had a unanimous victory on four of the scorecards (30-27×4) with only one giving her a mark below the maximum (29-28).
The 31-year-old built on her impressive Olympic debut against Italy’s Rebecca Nicoli with another strong performance in the quarter-finals.
The amateur world champion started strongly with a commanding first-round that saw the Dubliner take an early lead on the scorecards with four of the five judges giving her the round.
Harrington made the lead an unassailable one, excluding a spectacular third round from Khalif, after a dominant second-round left all the judges without doubt.
Her speed proved too much for her Algerian opponent and her movement was on another level compared to Khalif.
A trip over her own shoelaces threatened to halt her momentum but the Portland Row native maintained her advantage.
A less dominant third round still saw the Irish woman take a 5-0 win on the scorecards to finish the fight.
Harrington was confident of her success directly after the fight, telling her corner that “[she had] a feeling” that her performance would guarantee her at least a bronze after just two Olympic boxing matches.
Harrington will now face Thai boxer Sudaporn Seesondee in the semi-final after her progression to the next round.
The fight will be a rematch of the 2018 AIBA World Boxing Women’s Lightweight title fight in New Delhi.
Harrington edged Seesondee in the title fight to take home gold with a 3-2 points win after amassing three five-nil wins on the way to the final.
