IT has been a glorious day for the Walsh siblings, Michaela and Aidan, as both secured quarter-final berths at the European Olympic Boxing Qualifier in Paris today (Friday).
The competition picked up where it left off when abandoned in London last year with the Black's Road duo knowing they required a top-six finish to make the flight to Toky. Should they win their respective quarter-finals or prevail in a second chance box-off between defeated last eight fighters, they are on their way.
It is not yet confirmed, but it appears that Michaela has already done enough because as it stands, her rankings points can't be overtaken by Russia's Liudmila Vorontsova who lost in her bout to Italy's Irma Testa and therefore would qualify on the quota system for the remaining places on offer in the world rankings.
That is not a given until it is 100 per cent but based on this evening's performance, Walsh will believe she can go much deeper into this tournament after a polished display against France's Mona Mestiaen.
Walsh was much the physically bigger fighter and worked well off her jab early against a busy opponent. Mestiaen was letting her hands go, but being picked-off on the way in for the most part as Walsh landed consistently and swept the opener.
Mestiaen upped her aggression early in the second and had success with looping hooks as Walsh retreated, but the Belfast boxer replied and seemed to get the better of a mini firefight at the end of the round and was now well ahead having taken four of the five judges' approval.
Michaela Walsh after her win
It was now up to the Frenchwoman to pull out something big in the final frame and Walsh acted accordingly by carrying her hands a little higher but was catching Mestiaen on the way in to score.
The Monkstown ABC fighter boxed well off the jab and finished strong in a dominant performance to advance into Sunday's quarter-final against Sweden's Stephanie Thour and seemingly book her place at the Games with scores of 30-27 (x4) and 27-28.
Earlier in the day, younger brother Aidan claimed a 4-1 split decision win over France's Wahid Hambli in the men's welterweight class.
Walsh won his opening bout of the European Olympic Qualifier in March 2020 before the tournament was abandoned due to Covid-19, so had an incredible wait of 15 months before picking up where he left off, doing so with a performance to match.
The 24-year-old from Black's Road used sublime movement, reflexes and counterpunching to catch the eye of all but one of the judges throughout and was a worthy winner to advance into the last eight.
Victory in Sunday afternoon's quarter-final against Ukraine's Yevhenii Barabanov, or win a box-off against one of the other eliminated fighters at that stage, will be enough to stamp his ticket to Japan.
Walsh enjoyed considerable height and reach advantage and was quickly into a rhythm, boxing off the back foot against the aggressive Hambli who was kept own the edge of the jab.
He switched to southpaw and back as the Fenchman appeared confused and a triple jab followed by a right highlighted his superiority as he took the round on four of the five cards.
Hambli was much more aggressive from the start of the second and poured forward, letting his hands go in an effort to draw Walsh into a fight on the inside. He was having success, but left himself open to counters as Walsh connected with a beautiful right hand.
It was a much closer round as Hambli got through with a right over the guard and both had their moments, but Walsh again took the round on four of the five cards to leave himself in pole position.
Walsh opened the third as a southpaw but quickly switched, using his excellent movement and reflexes to circle backwards on the ropes as Hambi went for broke.
The French slugger needed a home run punch and certainly went looking for it, connecting with a good right, but Walsh was not taking the bait as he stayed out of danger and took the play away, again picking up the round on all cards bar one he moved into the quarter-final on a 4-1 split decision (30-27 x 4, 27-30).
The younger of the Walsh siblings, Aidan, was also celebrating today 
The day got off to an excellent start for the Irish with Aoife O'Rourke getting the ball rolling with a 4-1 win over former European Games foe Viktoryia Kebikava of Belarus at 75kg, a win in which the Roscommon woman was a lot more comfortable than the split decision suggests.
Dublin's Emmett Brennan was also victorious as he moved into the light-heavyweight quarters with a unanimous decision win against Swiss fighter Uke Smajli.
Former world lightweight champion Kellie Harrington made it a perfect day for the Irish as she swept the boards to claim unanimous decision against Poland's Aneta Rygielska to march into the last eight where she will face Maiva Hamadouche - professional IBF super-featherweight champion - in tomorrow night's quarter-final.
