Ireland will have three boxers fighting for gold at the European Under-19 Boxing Championships after Grace Conway and John Donoghue joined Sean McCusker in qualifying for Thursday’s finals in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Conway guaranteed herself at least a silver medal and a spot in the 57kg finals with a decision win over Romania’s Mirela Elisa Cojocaru.
Cojocaru set a high pace from the first bell but the southpaw from Louth made good adjustments and started landing consistently with left-hand counters.
The referee deducted one point from Conway and two from Cojocaru, helping the Irish fighter to win a scrappy and close contest.
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In the 65kg class, John Donoghue advanced after his Greek opponent Emmanouil Fotiadis was disqualified.
Donoghue was forced to the canvas in the opening round but was announced as the winner despite protestations from the Greek team.
Kayleigh Byrne and Nessa Tabachuk, meanwhile, both lost out in their respective semi-finals, instead having to settle for bronze.
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During the afternoon session, Gorey’s Kayleigh Byrne lost out to former world youth champion Imogen White in the 51kg division.
The English fighter had a strong start in round one, landing effectively with her straight right. Byrne responded well in the second, but with White continuing to land combinations the Wexford native had it all to do heading into the final round.
Byrne could not make up the deficit in the final three minutes, losing out on points to see White advance to Thursday’s final.
Galway fighter Tabachuk also took a semi-final defeat, losing out to Italy’s Miriam di Savino.
After a close and sometimes untidy opening round, things settled down in the second, but di Savino started to get the better of the exchanges.
The final round proved competitive, but Tabachuk could not do enough to close the gap and di Savino advanced to the 75kg final.
