Sky Scholars Savannah Marshall and Jack Bateson lose in Bulgaria
Friday 24 March 2017 12:20, UK
Boxers Savannah Marshall and Jack Bateson suffered early exits at the Strandja tournament in Sofia, while runner Mark English continued his good form.
Fighters from England and Wales were represented at the 67th annual event in the Bulgarian capital and the two Sky Academy Sports Scholars were looking to give their Rio qualifying hopes a boost.
The 24-year-old Marshall was up against old rival Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands, who she lost to at the European Games Baku last summer.
In her first bout for three months since winning gold at the Queen's Cup in Germany, Marshall was defeated again but she remained upbeat with the crucial European Olympic Qualifying event coming up in Turkey in April.
Hartlepool's top boxer said: "Although I'm disappointed and upset I feel like I have taken more from that loss - more than if it was a win.
"With the qualifiers five weeks away, I have got a lot to work on. I've had my few days of being upset and depressed because I lost but now it's time to move on."
Bateson was desperate for revenge on Gabriel Escobar after losing a split decision in Hungary to the Spaniard at the start of February.
But it was more disappointment for the 21-year-old from Leeds who said: "I had a great first round as I knew what my opponent was all about after fighting him just two weeks ago.
"After studying the previous fight at home I knew what was going to work well and felt I put my practice into play. The second round was similar, very close to score until I was deducted points from the referee who accused me of holding and pushing my opponent's head down.
"He had continued to rush in with his head causing our heads to clash and he suffered a cut above his eye. After losing the second round with the point deduction I felt I needed a big round and I was chasing it in the third.
"It meant I was boxing in a way I wouldn't have done usually. At the end of a closely contested fight, even with the point deduction, I was still hopeful but again it wasn't to be and I dropped a unanimous decision."
Meanwhile, the build-up to the outdoor season for 800m Irish runner Mark English shows no sign of slowing down.
The 22-year-old won his fourth Irish Indoor 800m title at the National Senior Indoor Championships in Athlone at the weekend.
After progressing from his heat with a fine time of 1 minute 48.15 seconds, the Letterkenny star cruised to victory in 1:51.57. English said: "That was a good weekend."
And with World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon, on March 17-20, he added: "When you're in good form I don't see why you wouldn't go to a championships."
Jessica Judd was "very pleased" with her 11th spot at the National Cross Country Championships at Donington Park, while road cyclist Lucy Garner was involved in her first European race with new team Wiggle High5.
After finishing 33rd at the Omloop van het Hageland in Belgium, Garner said: "It went well and I felt really good.
"I helped the team as much as I could and we rode strong but unfortunately we didn't get a result. But I'm happy with my shape at this time of the year."
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS
JAN 16 - MARCH 5: Siobhan O'Connor, Australia
MARCH 2-5: Lucy Garner, Le Samyn des Dames
MARCH 11-15: Elise Christie, World Championships, Seoul
MARCH 12/13: Quillan Isidore, British BMX Round 1&2, Manchester
