PADDY BARNES LED the charge as four more Irish boxers moved to within a fight of a medal at the European Championships in Minsk.
Barnes, Tommy McCarthy, Jason Quigley and John Joe Nevin all won to book their place alongside team-mate Michael Conlan in tomorrow’s quarter-final bouts.
The one cloud on an impressive day for the Irish team came in the welterweight division when London Olympian Adam Nolan crashed out against number one seed Boghdan Shelestyuk of Ukraine. Nolan lost 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.
After the disappointment of losing Joe Ward to injury yesterday it was Barnes, another former European champion, who got the day off to a winning start.
Tommy McCarthy en route to victory (©INPHO/Cathal Noonan)
The Belfast light-fly came out on top of a Celtic clash against Welshman John Ashley “Ash Bash” Williams, winning 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 to set up a medal decider against Istvan Ungyari of Hungary.
Belfast’s Tommy McCarthy beat Finnish national champion Tomi Honka in the heavyweight division (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) while in the middleweight division, Jason Quigley sealed his progress to the last eight with a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 win against Arbi Chakaev of Austria.
Coach Billy Walsh and Jason Quigley share a smile (©INPHO/Cathal Noonan)
Bantamweight number one seed John Joe Nevin scored a unanimous 30-27 win on all three judges’ cards against Selcuk Exer of Turkey.
The quarter-finals begin tomorrow at 12pm Irish time. A win for any of the five remaining Irish fighters would guarantee them a bronze medal at minimum.
