It was a profitable week for Saviours Crystals boxing club in Portugal.
The Ballybeg club had four boxers in action at the Algarve boxing cup with three taking home medals.
Chantelle Robinson fought her way to a bronze medal in the flyweight division. Her route to a medal was not an easy one as she had to face European medalist Giordanna Sorrentino of Italy in her deciding bout. The Italian would go on to be named female boxer of the tournament picking up the gold medal along the way.
Adam Kiely stepped between the ropes for his lightweight matches but was beaten by Jamie Devine from the Isle of Man to the bronze medal.
Sean Purcell will be celebrating his week's work for some time. 3 contests over 3 days saw him beat the highly rated Paul Looman of DCU in the semi-final, before going on to win his gold medal match with Norweigian Biniran Gerebihan. The Norway National team pugilist proved to be a very tricky opponent, but Purcell was able to stick to his game plan to beat Gerebihan on points claiming the featherweight men's gold medal.
A man who captured the headlines earlier this year was once again topping the billing in Portgual. Kelyn Cassidy has had to recover from two separate hand injuries this year as well as notching back-to-back losses on the international stage. The Ballybeg native beat a Norweigian opponent in his semifinal which then saw him drawn against Alfred Commy of Italy in the final. The Italian is already a European silver medalist and was highly touted to take home the gold from the Algarve. Cassidy was by far the better of the two boxers vying for light heavyweight gold and while he took the win on points, he did knock his counterpart in the final round to put a bow on his performance.
Cassidy took home the gold medal for his week's work, as well as being named boxer of the tournament. Saviours Crystals claimed fourth spot in the team competition with Italy 1st, Norway 2nd and Portugal 3rd.
The next big test for these Waterford boxers will be the National Elite Championships in January. Cassidy will travel to the national stadium with his sights set firmly on defending his light heavyweight title which he won in dramatic fashion last year. Purcell meanwhile is fancied to challenge for lightweight honours when he returns to Dublin.
