DAMAEN KELLY, the highly rated flyweight who fights out of the Holy Trinity club in Belfast, achieved one part of his double objective when reaching the quarter final stages of the European Championships at Vejle in Denmark yesterday.

Kelly's impressive win over Mustafa Musamedin of the former Yugoslavia guarantees his presence at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, one of his targets prior to the European tests which are effectively qualifiers for this summer's sporting extravaganza.

Now he can concentrate his efforts on collecting a medal of some hue, as he is just one fight away from a bronze. Kelly is due to fight Italy's Carmine Molaro, a bronze medallist at the 1992 World Junior Championships, in tomorrow's quarter final and, if he can reproduce the performance he turned in yesterday, he has every chance of progressing further.

Kelly, who has won five Irish titles, was most impressive in his clear cut win over the tough Musamedin. The Ulsterman considered a realistic hope to emulate Michael Carruth's and Wayne McCullough's Olympic medal winning performances in Barcelona four years ago won all three rounds and, in the end, was 8-2 ahead on the computer scoring system.

There was no such good fortune for Dubliner Jim Prior whose bid to make it to Atlanta came to an abrupt end thanks to the intervention of the referee in his light flyweight bout with Sweden's Stefan Storn.

"Prior was disqualified in round two for persistent head offences," after receiving two warnings in the first round. Many observers felt the Irishman was hard done by, but the referee's decision handed the fight to 18 year old Storn.

With the notable exception of Kelly, the misery continued for Ireland's other competitors in the ring last night when Damien McKenna, Francis Barrett and Scan Murphy were all beaten.

Bantamweight McKenna's bout with Frenchman Rachid Bouaita didn't even last a round. The referee stopped the fight after Bouaita landed a right to McKenna's head and two left hooks to the Irishman's body.

And 20 year old southpaw Francis Barrett, from the Olympic club in Galway, had the misfortune to come up against Eduard Zakharob, the 1993 European junior champion from Russia, in the light welterweight division. Barrett did well to last the full three rounds, but lost out 16-3 to Zakharob on points.

Ireland's super heavyweight champion Sean Murphy, from New Ross, also drew the short straw when paired against the 1993 European champion Vladin Klitchow from Ukraine. Klitchow, a silver medallist in last year's world military games, won when the referee stopped the fight in the second round after Murphy received a third warning for hitting with the inside of the glove.