ROSIE Eccles will have the chance to upgrade her silver medal from three years ago when she goes for gold at the Women’s European Boxing Championships in Madrid, but fellow Gwent star Lauren Price won’t be on the plane to Spain later this month.

Caerleon welterweight Eccles, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist last year, is part of a six-strong GB Boxing squad ready to take on the continent’s best from August 22 to September 1.

England’s Sandy Ryan, the woman who beat Eccles to Commonwealth gold, Gold Coast runner-up Paige Murney (lightweight), Karris Artingstall (featherweight), Tori Ellis Willets (flyweight) and Kerry Davis (middleweight) make up the party.

Sheffield-based GB Boxing say Eccles’ Pontypool ABC clubmate Price wasn’t considered for selection because of the amount of competitive boxing she has already had in 2019.

Two-time European bronze medallist Price, 25, will now focus on getting ready for the World Championships, which begin at the start of October in Russia.

Eccles, 23, lost out on gold to Russia’s Aleksandra Ordina at the 2016 event, while in 2018 she was eliminated by another Russian, Yaroslava Yakushina, in the quarter-finals.

“Our female boxers face a very busy schedule at the end of this year which will be a good opportunity for the coaching staff to assess where they are, in terms of their development, ahead of the Olympic qualifiers next year,” said GB Boxing performance director Rob McCracken.

“Whilst we do have three Commonwealth medallists in the team, this is a relatively inexperienced group in terms of major tournaments, so it is a chance for one of the boxers to show that they have the ability to be successful at this level and put themselves in contention to be selected for the forthcoming World Championships and the Olympic qualifiers in 2020.”

On the decision not to select Price, who is ranked number three in the world at middleweight, McCracken added: “Lauren has been very active in 2019 and only recently returned to full training following a short break after boxing three times on the way to winning gold at the European Games in June.

“The coaches and I discussed the schedule for the remainder of the year with her and we all agreed that the best approach is for Lauren to miss this competition and have a longer training camp that will enable her to focus her preparations on the World Championships in October.”

Two boxers who competed at last year’s World Championships in New Delhi, flyweight Ebonie Jones and middleweight Natasha Gale, were not available for selection as they have been released from the GB Boxing squad.

The six boxers chosen by GB Boxing will be joined by Demi Jade Resztan who has been selected by England Boxing and will box in the non-Olympic light-flyweight (48kg) category.