LAST UPDATE | 23 Apr
FOUR IRISH BOXERS have all guaranteed at least bronze medals at the European Championships in Serbia by winning their respective quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Kellie Harrington, Shannon Sweeney, Niamh Fay and Aoife O’Rourke all clinched medals as they advanced to the semis.
There was misfortune for O’Rourke’s younger sister Lisa, however, with the former world champion — who is only warming back into competitive action following long-term injury problems with her hand — bowing out by the narrowest of margins just shy of the rounds.
Reigning Olympic lightweight champion Harrington added her ninth major international medal — and a fifth European honour — with a split-decision victory over talented Turk Gizem Özer to reach the final four at 60kg.
Harrington, twice previously a European champion, was given a stiff test by Özer, a bronze medallist at last year’s Europeans.
The 34-year-old Dubliner passed it with flying colours, however, with a dominant second round the decisive factor in an otherwise tight, fast-paced contest.
Harrington is unbeaten in 31 bouts, a run which stretches back to before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She will box in another European semi-final on Saturday.
Mayo flyweight Shannon Sweeney earned the most eye-catching result of the day — and a bronze medal at the very least — as she upset top seed and 2022 World Championship medallist Laura Fuertes of Spain in their 50kg quarter.
Sweeney outclassed Fuertes to take a unanimous decision and seal her second European medal, having taken bronze home from Montenegro in 2022.
The St Anne’s clubwoman will take to the ring for her semi-final on Friday.
Dublin’s former underage standout Niamh Fay, meanwhile, didn’t have to throw a punch on Tuesday in order to secure a spot on the eventual bantamweight (54kg) podium. Fay’s quarter-final opponent, Bulgarian second seed Stanmira Petrova, was forced to withdraw through injury and so Fay received a walkover to the semis.
That bye yields a first major international medal in the adult ranks for Fay, who was previously a European champion at both Youth and U22 level and beat Russia’s Karina Tazabekova on a split decision on Monday to reach the last eight.
Up at light-middleweight (66kg), meanwhile, Lisa O’Rourke was beaten on a split decision following a judges’ review of her bout with Slovakia’s Jessica Triebelova.
The Castlerea woman’s older sister Aoife, a three-time European champion and the reigning ruler at middleweight (75kg), beat Hungary’s Veronika Nakota on a unanimous decision.
