Irish middleweight Eamon O'Kane joined John Joe Joyce and Ross Hickey in the semi-finals of the European Senior Championships after recording a deserved win over Andranik Hakoyban in Liverpool tonight.
All three boxers are guaranteed bronze from the Championships, maintaining Ireland's remarkable sequence of having won medals at every international tournament, including the Olympic Games, entered this year.
O'Kane, from the Immaculata club in Belfast, chalked up a 6-4 victory over the Armenian 2008 Olympian to set up a semi-final with Maxim Koptyakov of Russia at the Greenbank Academy.
O'Kane's victory arrived less that an hour after light welterweight John Joe Joyce set up yet another showdown with Hungarian Gyula Kate following an edge of the seat 9-7 win over Bulgarian 2004 European lightweight champion Dimitar Stilianov.
That verdict ensured that Joyce, from the St Michael's Athy club, would meet Kate - who he beat at last Augusts Olympics - in Thursday's semi-final.
But while Joyce and O'Kane had their hands raised in victory there was disappointment for Tipperary heavyweight Con Sheehan who was beaten 4-2 by Romanian, Petrisor Gananau.
Earlier in the day, featherweight David Oliver Joyce bowed out at the quarter-final stage after he was beaten 10-2 by Ukrainian Olympic champion Vasyl Lomachenko.
Ross Hickey won his quarter-final bout on Tuesday and will face Vazgen Safaryants of Belarus in Thursday's lightweight semi final.
The preliminary rounds of the European Senior Championships are being held at the Greenbank Academy with the finals pencilled in for the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday, 15 November.
Three Irish into European semi-finals
