Lisa and Aoife O’Rourke have both advanced to the semi-finals at the European Boxing Championships in Bulgaria, ensuring Team Ireland will take home at least two more medals. Aoife, the reigning world middleweight champion, secured a hard-fought 3-2 win against Poland’s Agata Kaczmarska. The 29-year-old from Castlerea, County Roscommon, claimed her fifth medal at a confederation level after three intense rounds against the current 80+kg world champ. Judges were split heading into the final round, with two favoring Aoife and two siding with her opponent, but the deciding vote from the fifth judge gave her the win. She will face Russia’s Saltanat Medenova in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
“It was a real battle,” Aoife told Boxing Ireland. “She never gave up, and I’m grateful for the fitness that kept me going through all three rounds. People often say ‘just use your height advantage,’ but she kept pushing forward relentlessly.”
Lisa, Aoife’s younger sister, also triumphed in her quarter-final, advancing in the light-heavyweight division with a commanding unanimous decision over England’s Emily Asquith. The 24-year-old, who won world gold in 2022 and silver last year, showed excellent form and will now take on Ukraine’s Iryna Lutsak in Wednesday’s semi-final.
“The quarter-finals are tough because a medal is guaranteed,” Lisa said. “You can’t forget what’s at stake but you have to treat it like any other fight—give it your all and hope it’s enough. I look up to Aoife a lot; usually, I go first, but today she reminded me she’d set the pace and keep our momentum going—and she did just that.”
Unfortunately for Ireland, Jack Marley, Evelyn Igharo, and Daina Moorehouse were all eliminated earlier in the day. Marley, in the heavyweight category, narrowly lost a 4-1 split decision to Georgia’s Georgii Kushitashvli. Igharo was defeated unanimously by England’s Chantelle Reid in the 70kg quarter-final, and Moorehouse fell 4-1 to Spain’s Laura Fuentes Fernandez in the flyweight quarter-final.
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Fan Take: These victories by Lisa and Aoife O’Rourke highlight Ireland’s growing prominence in European boxing, showcasing skill, resilience, and depth in multiple weight classes. For fight fans, their performances fuel excitement for the sport’s evolving landscape and hint at thrilling showdowns to come on the international stage.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
