Boxing:Ireland will be taking home at least five bronze medals from the 39th edition of the biennial tournament after Belfast's Paddy Barnes and Athy's Eric Donovan followed Ken Egan, Darren O'Neill and Tyrone McCullagh into the last four of their respective divisions at the European Senior Championships in Moscow.
However, 2009 World Senior bronze medalist John Joe Nevin had to settle for a top eight finish yesterday, following a surprising 7-1 reversal to English bantamweight Gamal Yafai.
Olympic bronze medallist Barnes was first to advance after a commanding 10-2 win over English light-flyweight Thomas Stubbs.
A solid display of defensive work combined with some precise shots sealing his second victory over Stubbs since last August.
Donovan followed that up with an impressive 10-4 verdict over Hungarian puncher Miklos Varga in a repeat of their 2007 World Senior Championships duel which Donovan won in Chicago.
Donovan will meet 2007 AIBA World featherweight champion Albert Selimov of Russia in Friday’s lightweight semi-final.