The O’Rourke sisters, Aoife and Lisa, ended what had been a tough day for Ireland on a high by guaranteeing themselves bronze medals in the European Elite Boxing Championships.
Irish fighters were in action in five quarter-finals on Tuesday at the Asics Arena in Sofia, Bulgaria, but there was disappointment for the first three before the Castlerea duo transformed the Irish mood.
Both took deserved victories, adding to the medal already secured by Jon McConnell on Monday.
Aoife O’Rourke, the reigning world champion at 75kg, faced a tough opening contest against Poland’s Agata Kaczmarska, the reigning 80+kg world champion.
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The fight lived up to the billing as they went toe to toe. O’Rourke put herself ahead in punches thrown, but Kaczmarska landed the heavier blows. It was on a razor’s edge across the first and second rounds before the Pole’s narrow early advantage was wiped out heading into the final round.
O’Rourke’s superior fitness eventually told as she stormed to a 5-0 third-round victory to take it 3-2 overall. The 29-year-old will now meet Russia’s Saltanat Medenova in the semi-finals.
“It was a battle, that girl never gave in and I’m just thankful I had a bit of fitness to keep me going through all three rounds with her intensity,” she said afterwards.
“I know it’s easy looking in, people saying, ‘keep her out, you’re taller’ but my God, she kept coming forward. We all want to win, I know some of my team-mates had really close losses, and it’s all learning as well.”
Lisa O’Rourke was next up, and enjoyed a dominant performance over England’s Emily Asquith. The 24-year-old was on the front foot throughout, landing shots at will on her way to a unanimous victory.
“Delighted,” she said of the win. “It’s hard come the quarter-finals, just with the medal on the line. You don’t forget about it, but you just go in like any other fight, give it your best and just hope it’s enough.
“Thankfully today it all worked well for me.”
Her semi-final opponent will be Ukraine’s Iryna Lutsak, a multiple European under-23 medallist. Both O’Rourkes will fight in Wednesday’s afternoon session with a spot in their respective finals on the line.
Earlier, Daina Moorehouse’s hopes of making the podium in the women’s 51kg division were crushed by a World and European bronze medallist Laura Fuentes Fernandez. The Spaniard made the most of her height advantage to progress with a 4-1 victory.
Evelyn Igharo exited at the last-eight stage in the 70kg division, finding the going too difficult against England’s Chantelle Reid, who won on a unanimous decision.
Heavyweight Jack Marley’s championships also came to an end, with former European and World medallist Georgii Kushitashvli beating the Dubliner 4-1.
