Jessie Bates and Michelle Silva Qualify for Youth Olympic Games

The United States qualified two fighters for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games on Wednesday's opening day of the Youth Qualification Tournament in Tijuana, Mexico. Qualifying on Wednesday were Jessie Bates (Redondo Beach, Calif.) in the female 44-49kg division and Michelle Silva (Chicago, Ill.) in the female over 63kg division.

After starting her day with two wins by disqualification over opponents from Afghanistan and Ghana, Bates, 16, recorded a 5-4 victory over Iran’s Seyedeh Mohadeseh Mousavi to reach the quarterfinals. After losing her quarterfinal match to Jordan’s Dana Touran, Bates regrouped for a decisive 9-2 victory over Nizie Cynthia Kragbe of the Ivory Coast and earn her spot at the Youth Olympic Games.

Silva, 15, also started her competition with a disqualification win over an athlete from Costa Rica but dropped a 17-1 decision to her next opponent, Lulu Fei of China, to force a must-win match in the next round. Silva responded to the challenge with a 9-5 victory over Croatia’s Diana Letica to qualify for Singapore.

The third U.S. fighter in action on Wednesday was Olie Burton (Alexandria, Va.) in the male 48-55kg division. Burton, 16, started the day with a win by disqualification over a fighter from Uzbekistan. His next match against Egypt’s Mohamed Mohamed Abdelazizk went into overtime where Abdelazizk scored a decisive head kick to score a 3-0 win and eliminate Burton from the tournament.

The tournament concludes on Thursday with three more U.S. fighters taking to the mat: Selina Tubbs (Plano, Texas) in the female 49-55kg division, Gregory English (Chicago, Ill.) in the male under 48kg division, and Jeffery Williams (Blue Island, Ill.) in the male 55-63kg division.

Over 300 athletes from 85 countries are participating in the qualification tournament, with the top six in each weight division qualifying for this summer's inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

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Tags: Jessie Bates, Michelle Silva, Olie Burton III