Bronze for O’Rourke, Irvine

THERE was no joy for Aoife O’Rourke and Brendan Irvine, the two Irish boxers still standing in the Standja Multi-Nation tournament in Sofia yesterday.

Rio Olympian Irvine was forced to concede a walk-over to Bulgarian flyweight Daniel Asenov yesterday having sustained a minor facial injury during his quarter-final win over Kosovo’s Bashkim Bajoku.

A swelling developed above Irvine’s left eye after a first round clash of heads. It was decided not to risk the Belfast fighter in the semi-final.

The 24-year-old, who so far is the only Irish boxer to have qualified for the Toyko Olympics, will still take home a bronze medal.

Meanwhile, it was a case of déjà vu for European middleweight champion O’Rourke who for the second year in a row lost to the impressive American Naomi Graham in the semi-final of the 75kg division.

Graham, who won the gold medal at the 2020 tournament, won on a unanimous 5-0 decision. O’Rourke wins a bronze medal.

The Roscommon fighter is aiming to qualify for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics at the rescheduled European qualifying tournament which now looks likely to be held in Budapest, Hungary during the month of June.