LAST UPDATE | 21 Oct 2022
Updated at 19.30
KELLIE HARRINGTON, AMY Broadhurst Christina Desmond, Caitlin Fryers and Aoife O’Rourke have all secured at least a silver at the Women’s European Boxing Championships in Budva, Montenegro.
Olympic gold medallist Harrington earned a convincing 5-0 on the scorecards against Donjeta Sadiku of Kosovo to reach the European lightweight final, which takes place tomorrow.
Most recently, O’Rourke won on her 75kg showdown on a unanimous decision against Sweden’s Love Holgersson.
The defending champion dug deep to prevail, and become the fifth Irish boxer into a European final tomorrow. The team will come home with seven medals — five of them either gold or silver — with the previous Euros record three.
Earlier, light-flyweight Fryers prevailed against Azerbaijan’s Anakhanim Ismayilova to secure her spot in Saturday’s final.
All five judges awarded the Belfast boxer the fight on the scorecards to pave the way for a climactic clash with Turkey’s reigning world champion Buse Naz Çakıroğlu.
Dundalk woman Broadhurst overcame Croatian Sara Beram in their light welterweight semi-final on all five of the judges’ scorecards and is now set to fight for gold tomorrow.
Victory on Saturday would see Broadhurst secure a unique hat-trick of gold medals, having already won the light-welterweight title at the World Championships in May and the Commonwealth Games lightweight crown in July.
An impressive showing from 70kg Christina Desmond ensured her spot in the final with a one-sided triumph over Italian Melissa Gemini. The 2016 bronze medallist fights for gold on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier today, Michaela Walsh and Shannon Sweeney lost their semi-finals. They will both take home bronze.
Featherweight Walsh faced an Olympic rematch against Italian Irma Testa. A close encounter saw the Belfast boxer edged out on a split decision.
Bulgaria’s Sevda Asenova defeated Sweeney in the 48kg bout.
Congratulations Shannon Sweeney and Michaela Walsh on winning European bronze in an unforgettable week for Irish women’s boxing.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 21, 2022
Wishing you every success in your gold medal bouts Kellie Harrington, Amy Broadhurst, Tina Desmond, Caitlin Fryers and Aoife O’Rourke!
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy and Emma Duffy.
