BOXING: Darren O'Neill, of the Paulstown boxing club in Kilkenny, continued Ireland's good run at the European Boxing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, yesterday and moved impressively into the last eight.

Ireland's third quarter-finalist faces Fundo Mhura of Scotland tomorrow for a place in the last four.

Although he is making his senior championship debut as a middleweight (75 kg), O'Neill had been impressive at the tournament and at the training camp in Moscow.

His beaten opponent, Dimitri Serdjork, the 32-year-old Dutch champion, originally from Russia, had 12 years' experience over the 20-year-old Kilkenny man but couldn't cope as O'Neill dominated the centre of the ring from the first bell. Scores of 9-6 in round one, 17-9 on round two and 26-11 in round three tell the story of O'Neill's dominance.